Lingering Vengeance: Final Mix
by The Dragon's Throne
Summary: A fallen hero awakens once more, consumed by never ending rage. He seeks the absolute destruction of the one who stole everything from him, and nothing will stand in his way of vengeance. Only Sora and Riku can face him...but even their power may not be enough. Re-write of the original Lingering Vengeance.
1. Prologue

Prologue: That Which Has Lingered.

* * *

The wind howled, as it always did.

Dust twirled and tore into the rocks, mesas and everything else in its way. As it always did.

The dark red sky held no clouds and the sun that hung in the air was a small, fading star.

The dust began to settle, as it always did.

The storm began to fall away…

Revealing row after row of ancient, rusted weapons.

They were all different in shape but similar in design.

Every blade had…key like features.

This harsh, empty canyon was a graveyard…

Of Keyblades.

The legendary weapon, the physical form of light itself, given shape and substance by the will of its holder, bringing hope and peace, some say.

While others claim it only shattered peace and left ruin in their wake.

Once, an untold time again, a great war between those who wielded these Keyblades had been fought here.

Many believed that was war was fought by valiant heroes, who sacrificed themselves to prevent this conflict of divine scale from spreading from this empty, barren and lifeless canyon, to the worlds teeming with life. Do not believe such foolish notions.

This was not a war but a bloodbath of power hungry Keyblade Masters, who cast off their duty to uphold order for power and glory.

Who was the victor of this war?

None remain who know.

Years passed.

And another war was fought here.

No not nearly on the scale of the previous, only six holders of the Keyblade met to battle here. And among them, only two were true Masters.

The battle had been fought, the elder Master searching for that same power as sought after by the previous combatants of the war, and with power, he sought glory and knowledge. And something else as well.

The survivors of this battle are larger in number. In truth, only two died on that day.

Well…

'Dying' is not a term to accurately describe what became of the old Master and his prideful apprentice.

But that story is for another day.

Only one item of interest remained in this empty graveyard of lifeless keys.

Far out, away from the rusted and broken keys…

It kneeled on the cracked and lifeless ground.

Its form was covered from head to foot in armor.

The upper torso was gold while the rest of its midsection was red. Its shoulder pauldrons were both gold and brown and slightly spiked. Its gauntlets had twin red blades rising near its elbow while the glove of the gauntlet was gold. Its legs were covered in brown armor with gold guarding and lines, reaching down to its gold and red greaves, long red blades jutting up from behind his golden boots. A black and gold cape fluttered softly against its kneeling form. Its helm was gold with a large black visor that covered and hid its entire face, with twin red 'wing tip' prongs rose up.

And this armor kneeled before its own Keyblade, both hands gripping the bottom of the hilt guard for support.

It was a mighty weapon, long as its wielder was tall, the hilt guard a royal blue with the bottom ends jutting out slightly. The blade itself was an ancient golden brown, the very end having three blades jutting out on both sides with a flat circular tip. Key like, but still a mighty weapon.

No name for this Keyblade was more appropriate then Ends of the Earth.

Once, this armor was shining and pristine, the armor of a true Keyblade wielder who once held the title 'Earth Knight'.

Now, after ten long years, its colors had faded away, and rust was beginning to form on certain areas, specifically around the joints, chest, and even in certain spots on the helm.

The rusted suit seemed to exude an air of regret and misery.

What once had been the armor of a proud warrior…

Was now nothing more than a lingering sentiment.

The wind blew harshly, causing the torn and tattered cape to rifle slightly.

And, then ever so slightly and gently it was almost missed…

The helm shifted.

Bits of rust and dust fell away from the helm, the faint sunlight casting a glare off the black glass of the visor.

Where there was once life, pride and hope…

There was now only…

Dreams.

They were all this Lingering Sentiment had left.

Sleep was all it did, waking a rare occurrence and one it seldom enjoyed.

But sleep, or awake…

It could only remember.

And no matter how painful the memories…

It would never allow itself to forget.

This dream…

It had been of that night….

The last night they all had been together.

The young boy with spiky blonde locks and eyes as blue the sky, his ever present grin infectious…

And her…

Hair and eyes the sapphire of calm waters…Her gentle smile always soothing…

The Sentiment tipped its helm further back, gazing up at the bloody sky.

The stars, the other worlds…

They had flickered out, only to return.

But that had been some time ago.

How long had it been here? How long had it endured this punishment? How long had it repented…

How long until salvation and everlasting peace? How long until it could fade into the blackness of eternity and dreamless sleep…

The Sentiment lowered its helm, bowing it. Never, it seemed.

For one who had cast off the light, and embraced the darkness in his heart merely for strength…

And in the end…

Neither light or darkness would accept him. All he had left was strength…

_Yes…_

The armor went rigid, fingers flexing over the hilt of its Keyblade. For a moment, it was too shocked to comprehend what it had just heard.

It wasn't possible…Just its memories once more torturing it…

Until…

_You are indeed strong._

That voice…

Like dried leafs crackling over a burning flame…

Ahead…in the dust…

A figure slowly approached.

Obscured by the dust flying through the air, he could not been seen very well…

But one could make out a hunched figure, hands behind his back and garbed in a cloak, the edges fluttering with the wind.

And again…

That voice.

_The darkness is nothing to fear._

The figure continued to approach, revealing more of himself…

Ancient, dark skin, cracked and wrinkled…A cloak of silver and black…

And while it could not be seen by the Sentiment, it knew…it knew…

The figure was smiling.

Not a kind smile, not a friendly one…

But a cruel one.

A smile that promised nothing but ruin as his golden eyes, like the pits of the hottest flames gleamed with a terrible dark mirth.

It was him…

It did not know how…It did not know why…But it knew…

This was the man…

Responsible for the Sentiment's suffering, its eternal torment of forever being locked in this armor with nothing but rust and memories that brought only pain…

The figure chuckled, a dry crackle carried in the wind.

_You're fine as you are…_

The Sentiment's fingers slowly flexed down on the hilt of its Keyblade…its arms beginning to shake, the tremors traveling through its whole form.

Fine?

FINE?!

Its flesh and blood…long stolen…replaced by metal, rust, and an emptiness that could never be filled…

Everything…Everything gone…

Friends…Family…Home…

All stolen…

By the figure ahead.

Rust broke off from the elbows and knees of the armor, gravel crunching and shifting under its greaves as the suit rose on its own accord, expressionless black visor locked onto the blurry figure before it. When it was back to its full, towering height, arms laying limp by its sides, strange, pained sounds suddenly echoed from deep within the armor.

"_X…e…ha…no…rt…"_

The limp arms twitched, metal fingers curling up tightly into shaking fists.

"_Xe…ha…Nort...Xeha…nort."_

With speed it had not possessed moments before, the right hand shot out, wrapping around the hilt of the Ends of Earth and then the living armor charged forward towards the figure ahead, mighty Keyblade pulled back as it howled with rage so strong, wind, dust and gravel were blown back in the shape of a perfect circle around it by the sheer force of its fury.

"_XEHANORT!"_

Its rage gave it life, and power beyond measure. The Sentiment charged through the dust and wind, mighty weapon drawn back. In seconds it had cleared the distance between itself and this most hated man, the Ends of Earth raised high and brought down hard-

And only cutting through empty air.

The Lingering Sentiment staggered forward as it landed, helm snapping from left to right. But the ancient man responsible for all its pain and rage was nowhere in sight. The creature was so confused it almost tossed its head back in a howl of fury.

For a moment it thought its memories had cruelly manipulated it, taunted it…

But then it caught it.

The rusted helm turned slightly, towards a path through the endless rows of Keyblades…

There, carried on the wind…

That stench…

That foul air of corruption…

The darkness…

The Lingering Sentiment knew this was no mere memory, no mirage taunting it…

It knew…at last…

It would not long for sleep anymore.

Not until it found him…

Not until…

The Sentiment looked towards the bloody sky, the wind whipping around it, fluttering its frayed cape. The left arm of the creature twitched, its rusted gauntlet rising slowly, and reached towards the single star as one by one its rusted fingers flexed open and then clenched into a tight fist around the star. Soft sound emanated from inside the armor.

"_Ven…Aqua…Fi…na…lly…I… will…make this…right."_

And with that, the Lingering Sentiment lowered its arm and turned its helm back towards the direction of the stench before it began to walk along the path, following the scent of darkness…

Vengeance at last.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Last Day of Peace.

* * *

_Well, this is a first, _Riku thought as he continued to rummage through his closet, tossing clothes, hangers and various other items aside, none of them the objects he sought.

"Come on Riku!" A distinctive feminine voice called, quickly followed by another voice, slightly deeper in pitch but still high, and sometimes annoying. This was one of those times.

"Yeah, hurry up! It's kinda sad when I'm the one telling you that!"

"Tell me about it," Riku murmured to himself, scowling as what he sought continued to elude him. His room was normally organized, with everything in its place and easy to locate. Though that didn't seem to be the case with this particular item and he had torn his room apart trying to find it. His sea-blue eyes lit up when he finally found them. "Ah, there you are!" He breathed. His old pair of flip flops had been buried under an even older pair of pants and sneakers, well hidden, Riku thought with a grin.

"If you're not down here in another minute we're leaving without you!"

That made the silver-haired youth role his eyes and shake his head with a mutter of, "Yeah right." Though he unconsciously began to move faster, snatching his dark blue towel and then quickly exiting his room in a blur of silver, yellow and blue, taking the stairs in his home two at a time before bounding out the door, eyes narrowing with a wince when he left the natural light of indoors into the much brighter light of mid-morning day.

The silver-haired teen blinked rapidly, holding his hand over his face for a moment, scowling when he heard familiar giggles. These two always seemed to laugh at his expense, he noted dryly. When his eyes finally adjusted and he could lower his hand, and give his two friends a narrowed glare.

Of course both Kairi and Sora had innocent smiles on their faces, as always. Kairi spoke first, saying, "Well there you are you lazy bum. Did you forget about today's trip?" she teased, her voice sweet and soothing as always. Of course Sora had to jump in and add, "Nah, he was probably sleeping in like he has all summer!"

Riku didn't bother with a retort, though it would have been easy since Sora was the one who wanted to sleep all the time. He only rolled his eyes before he took a moment to look the two over. Like Riku, they were dressed for a day of fun and relaxation on their tropical home, their own towels under their arms. Kairi was wearing a small white top, the top of her pink bikini visible, sandals, two wristbands on her right wrist, one pink the other gold, and a short pink skirt, the cute bow knot just behind her right hip, which had left exposed through carefully positioning…

It complimented her red hair and violet eyes rather well, Riku thought.

Riku's eyes must have lingered a little too long, because Sora suddenly cleared his throat, prompting Riku to glance at his best friend, and allow himself a smirk of his own when he caught Sora's displeased scowl. The younger brunette was simply wearing a simple white button-up shirt and blue swim trunks with red knees, though like Kairi, he had two wristbands on his right wrist as well, one gold and the other blue. Riku himself noted he felt a little overdressed compared to them, as he was wearing one of his various yellow and blue shirts with no sleeves and a pair of dark blue trunks.

Still smirking, Riku looked away from Kairi and towards his friend and finally replied, "Sorry, just had to grab one last thing which I forget to get beforehand," He explained, raising his right up foot up a little ways. That made Sora blink, his annoyance instantly gone as he peered down to look Riku's foot over in confusion before looking at Riku to say, "You lost a pair of flip flops? How does that happen?"

Riku's response was a prompt smack upside Sora's head with his towel. This made Sora flinch in annoyance and whine a, "Hey!" The younger teen rubbed his now aching head, and Riku allowed himself a snicker, though he winced and muttered, "Ouch!" when Kairi thwacked the exposed skin of his upper arm, giving him a disproving glare.

"Play nice," She warned, her face serious, though he could still hear that teasing in her voice and see a twinkle in her eye.

Riku smirked and started down the road, calling over his shoulder, "Come on, let's go already, we're wasting daylight."

Sora blinked, flabbergasted and just stood there for a moment watching Riku walk ahead before looking at Kairi and asking, "Can you believe him? He was the one taking his time!" Kairi only giggled again, holding her hand close to her mouth before responding cheerfully and simply, "That's Riku."

That made Sora smile despite himself. Kairi was right. In their blissful youth, Riku had always been the one to get up and be active, not waste anytime unless it was for some fun. Though, throughout the summer, their good friend had mostly stayed cooped up in his home, only coming out every now and again to spend some time with one or both of them, though even then he still seemed…

Withdrawn.

That was one of the reasons they had planned this day of fun…

It was the last day of summer and Sora and Kairi had decided to get the old gang back together for one last day of freedom on their little play island they had spent so much time on in their childish days. They had been delighted when Riku had agreed to come with them. It just wouldn't have been the same without them.

Kairi suddenly moved ahead, causing Sora to blink when she turned and faced him, walking backwards a little and asking, "Coming?" And she held her hand out to him, smiling softly. Smiling back after a moment and replying, "Of course!" Sora twined his fingers with hers and they stood there a moment, holding hands. The moment was broken when Riku called, "Who's being slow now?" Still smiling, both turned and raced down the road, hands still locked, Kairi leading Sora as both chased after Riku.

The silver-haired teen watched them dart after him, before turning, allowing him a small smile and resumed his slow stride towards the docks.

He had moved ahead to give them some privacy, though those two weren't exactly subtle (Or blind to) their feelings anymore. All summer he had given them space to be with each other, and he would be lying if said he hadn't been flattered when they had come to him concerned about his sudden desire to be alone.

Though his wish to give his friends their own time to be together had been part of the reason…

The other part wasn't so simple.

Riku paused just as he reached the rising hill in the road, and turned his head a little ways, silver locks moving a little in the sudden, gentle wind. He could see all of the main island from this spot, every house, road, store and even their school. His sea-blue eyes stared for a long time.

"Such a simple place," He murmured.

A year ago, the simplicity had begun to drive him mad, as he had understood from a young age there was so much more than just these tiny islands…

He had been willing to give it all up, just to see other worlds…

But he had done more than give it up.

He had destroyed it all for his selfish desires.

That thought made his eyes lower, bitterness flashing in their depths for a moment.

He had destroyed this world…Cast his friends into untold danger…

And for what?

He couldn't remember anymore.

In the end, it had been his best friend, that knuckle-head Sora, who had saved it all, not just this world, but with all worlds…

He had done it while wielding the legendary weapon…

Riku extended his hand out, flexing his fingers open.

He could see it in his mind's eye…

The Key-

A blur of red and brown suddenly passed him by, a familiar voice saying, "Come on Riku, quit daydreaming! That's my thing!"

He blinked, reverie broken and turned ahead, seeing Sora and Kairi had somehow gotten ahead of him. The two had paused, only a little ways ahead of Riku himself, both still smiling. Kairi suddenly said, "If you just stand there, you won't get very far in our race?"

Riku cocked a silver brow, groaning a, "What? Are you kidding?" That made him pause and he suddenly found himself grinning like them as well.

They had that effect on him.

Sora and Kairi were still a few feet ahead of him, but when he moved they suddenly darted forward just a bit, Kairi still giggling while Sora had that look on his face, the one Riku knew all too well.

Both adolescent males tensed as Kairi suddenly said, "Ready? GO!"

Sora and Riku exchanged a quick glance, then suddenly dashed off even quicker. The two boys were neck and neck as they raced down the hill, Kairi still hanging onto Sora's hand, laughing with delight while Sora and Riku kept their gazes forward, eyes locked on their destination and the imaginary finish line that waited for them.

Riku felt his spirit lifted by this simple act.

Once, he might have wanted to give all this up…

But never again.

The Destiny Islands were his home.

They were where his friends were.

And he didn't want to be anywhere else.

* * *

The trio arrived at the small dock in moments, Sora and Riku coming to a halt, barely a little winded while Kairi was huffing and puffing, hunched over a little with her hand on her chest. Sora quickly noticed this and turned towards her, expression filled with concern as he quickly said, "I'm sorry Kairi! I shouldn't have dragged you like that!"

Kairi gave Sora a reassuring smile, her pretty face flushed a little and was about to say something when another voice interrupted.

"Fashionably late for once?" A female voice asked.

Riku and Sora turned to look toward the dock, with Riku remembering to himself, _Oh, yeah I forgot they were coming too…_

Standing by the dock next to the rowboats were the second trio of Destiny Islands, the stars of their school's Blitzball team, Tidus and Wakka, and the island's resident romantic, Selphie. Like Riku and his friends, they were dressed for a day of fun and sun as well. Selphie still had her dark brown hair styled in pigtails and displayed her yellow string bikini without any kind of cover, a single yellow towel draped over her shoulder and a basket of lotions held in hand. Tidus' spiked blonde locks gleamed in the sunlight and he was shirtless with his tanned and slim yet toned form displayed, a frayed pair of black trunks that had seen better days his choice of wear, with curious red strings tied around his biceps of both arms, and he had no other items on him. Wakka wore a simple orange vest and yellow pants instead of shorts like the other three males, his ever-present blue and white Blitzball currently spinning atop his index finger.

Riku decided to respond and was about to reply when Tidus interjected, "We've been waiting a while and was starting to wonder if you three were gonna show."

Riku glanced at the younger man and said, "What's the matter, Tidus? Got someplace to be?"

The blonde merely glowered and waved Riku off. Selphie suddenly squealed, darting over to Kaiir, practically shoving Sora aside as she said to her fellow female, "Oh my gosh, Kairi! You look so cute! Pink is such a great color on you!"

Kairi giggled, replying, "You look great too, Selphie!"

They then proceeded with the standard girl talk that Riku had trained himself to tune out, while poor Sora looked completely helpless. Thankfully for him, Tidus chose that moment to walk his way while Wakka approached Riku. "Hey Riku mon!" The orange-haired teen greeted with a smile. Riku smiled back, replying, "Hey," though his greeting lacked Wakka's abundant enthusiasm.

The ball player switched his spinning ball to his other hand as he began to say, "Haven't seen ya much dis summer, what dat about?" He asked, brow raised.

Riku shrugged off-handedly, before saying, "Just been enjoying being home." That was the simplest and easiest way to answer that question, even if it wasn't the whole truth.

Thankfully Wakka accepted it with a nod before going on. "Ya, dat's cool! Glad ya decided to have sum fun in da sun wit us today!"

Riku chuckled lowly, nodding. Wakka's good mood was infectious for most, but it was having little effect on Riku at the moment. He glanced in Sora and Kairi's direction, seeing the two were still talking to Selphie and Tidus. Wakka caught that and shifted, balancing his Blitzball atop his head before saying, "Hey, don't let Tidus get ta ya, ya? He been in a bad mood since his dad showed up last summer."

That actually surprised Riku as he looked back at Wakka, eyes a little wider with general intrigue. "His dad was here?" He asked. Wakka nodded, explaining, "Guy showed up outta da blue. Tidus been acting real weird ever since, probly paranoid he gonna show up again." He gave Riku a look before adding, "Dem two, like fire and ice, dey don't mix."

Riku chuckled again. "I think you mean oil and water, 'ya'?" He gave his best impression of Wakka's accent on that 'ya'. That made Wakka laugh heartily.

Just then Kairi and Selphie's conversation ended and the scantly clade brunette skipped over to the rowboats before looking back with a sly smile and gleam in her eye as she cutely put her finger by her lip and asked, "Which one of you strong boys wants to row this lady to our island?"

Seeing the dumb-founded look on Wakka's face, Riku patted him on the shoulder while saying, "All yours." Then he made his way over to Sora and Kairi as the two were going towards their own rowboat. Sora saw him approach and smiling asked, "Ready to have some fun buddy?"

Riku nodded, returning the smile before glancing at the small island off in the distance.

He was still looking forward to this day of play…

But he would be lying if he said going back to where his downfall began didn't unnerve him…

* * *

Sora and Riku had rowed themselves plus Kairi while Tidus and Wakka had rowed with Selphie.

The trip was short and fast, within moments they were at the small dock on their play island. Of course as she was a bundle of energy in a tiny form, Selphie practically bounced out of the rowboat with a laugh, though neither Tidus or Wakka were laughing when the boat nearly tipped over. Selphie took no notice of this, just looked the beach, waterfall and trees over before sighing and exclaiming, "It's so nice to be here again!" She held her hand out, closing her eyes and humming, "Mmm, the sun is so warm and the air's so cool! This is gonna be a great day!"

Unfortunately for Selphie, Tidus chose to ruin her moment as he was getting out of the rowboat to ask, "Hey Selp, you got any food in this bag?"

Whirling around, the bubbly girl saw Tidus holding her bag and carelessly rummaging through it in search of sustenance. Narrowing her eyes and putting her hands on her hips, she responded with a "Hmph!" to his question before stomping over and snatching her bag from a befuddled Tidus.

"There's nothing for you in there! Just my lotions! I didn't pack any food!"

At that Tidus looked annoyed, demanding, "What? Well why didn't you? I haven't eaten anything all morning!"

Selphie rolled her eyes before looking through her bag to make sure all her items were there, then replied, "Were on a tropical island, Tidus! If you're so hungry go find a coconut or some bananas!" Then she skipped down the dock's steps and onto the beach, looking for a spot to set up her towel.

Tidus actually considered her words, rubbing his chin for a moment and mumbling, "Not a bad idea…" He looked towards Sora, Kairi and Riku as they got out of their boat, Sora offering his hand to Kairi to help her out.

"Hey Sora, Riku!" He called to the two teens. Both turned to look at Tidus, Kairi following their gaze. The blonde went on, "Let's look around for some food. Sora, help me snatch some fish."

Wakka stepped up, interjecting, "Ya, and me and Riku can find sum coconuts and whatever else, ya?"

Riku shrugged, saying, "Sure why not."

Sora looked a bit more reluctant, glancing at Kairi who smiled up at him, and said, "Go ahead. I don't think any of us actually packed any snacks, so it's a good idea to find some."

She winked and added, "And it was always fun to watch you splash around trying to snatch up those wriggling fish."

Sora grinned back and nodded, walking over to Tidus, who shook his head and rolled his eyes after having watched the display, the two walking off the dock and towards the surf rolling on the beach. Wakka looked at Riku and jerked his head towards the end of the island, past the wooden bridge connecting the larger play island to the smaller one that bore the paopu tree. The two older teens walked off, Kairi following but stopping to lay out her own towel and Sora's alongside Selphie.

The brunette girl was already applying her suntan lotion, and she held the bottle out to Kairi in offer but the redhead declined with a smile and explained, "No thanks. I don't burn."

Selphie scoffed, beginning to apply some to her arms and shoulder while saying, "Lucky you. I fry like bacon without it."

Kairi looked out to the sparkling waters, watching Sora stay closer to the shoreline while Tidus just dived in headfirst. Sora was watching the waters closely, his hand thrusting in every now and again.

Selphie watched Kairi for a moment, shaking her head as she started to apply her lotion to her legs. "You two are so cute together I almost can't stand it."

That made Kairi blink, a tint of pink appearing on her cheeks as she looked at Selphie, stuttering, "W-what?"

Selphie gave Kairi a coy sideways glance. "Oh come on Kai, it's not like no one sees it. You two are just being adorable today, and I bet I know why you and I haven't been hanging out so much this summer."

Kairi's pink cheeks darkened to full-blown red and she heatedly protested, "It's not like that Selphie!"

The other girl didn't reply but the look in her eyes said she wasn't convinced.

Just then Tidus popped out of the waters with a gasp, before smiling and proudly displaying two small fish he had managed to catch. "Got 'em!" He exclaimed.

He looked towards Sora with a cocky smirk but that smirk was quickly knocked off when he saw Sora had two fish in each hand and big grin of his own. "Hey Tidus, look how many I got!" Sora exclaimed, holding up his catches. Tidus didn't respond, just trudged his way back onto the shore, with Sora following after with a look of confusion on his face.

Just then, Wakka walked over, a big bundle of bananas held over his shoulder while he continued to spin his Blitzball on the other. While Sora carefully laid all the fish out, Tidus approached his friend, spotted the bananas and said, "Those aren't coconuts."

Selphie snorted, quipping, "Thank you captain obvious."

That prompted Tidus to respond with a slight kick up of sand, making Selphie screech and shield her face, then snap, "Ugh, jerk!"

Tidus ignored her while Wakka placed the bananas by the fish. Sora looked around before turning to Wakka and asking, "Hey, where's Riku?" Wakka looked back at Sora as he replied, "He's still gettin' dem coconuts. I offered him a hand but he said no."

Tidus snorted. "Typical Riku, got to do everything himself."

The blonde suddenly looked towards the various treehouses above and then back to Wakka and Sora to say, "Hey I think all our old practice weapons are somewhere around here. Let's find 'em and have ourselves a spar."

That made Wakka grin. "Sound's fun, ya."

Tidus looked to Sora, asking, "What do ya say, Sora? Feeling lucky today?" He had a challenging grin on his face with that question.

Sora however had turned his attentions towards the far end of the island. When he looked back at Tidus and Wakka, he said, "Nah, not right now, I'm gonna go find Riku." And then promptly dashed off.

Tidus made a "Tch," before glancing at Selphie, who was busy reapplying her suntan lotion. "Well, what about you, Selph?"

The pig-tailed girl scoffed, rubbing some more lotion on her arms as she snapped, "Because of a certain blonde I have to reapply my lotion! Besides, you boys play too rough and a lady shouldn't lower herself to adolescent brawling!"

Tidus and Wakka blinked before exchanging glances. Then they both shrugged, with Tidus only saying, "Ok." And they both dashed towards the ladders that led up into the treehouses.

Selphie just sighed.

"Boys. I swear. Don't you agree Kairi?"

Silence. Selphie blinked and glanced towards her friend, reiterating, "Kairi?"

The red head was several feet away, following after Sora to the back of the island. Selphie watched Kairi disappear around a turn and sighed.

"And they call me a hopeless romantic."

* * *

"'Ey! Riku, mon! Look what I found!"

Riku looked up towards the sound of Wakka's voice, spotting the Blitzball player hanging from a tree, a big grin on his face with a large bundle of bananas in his free hand while his Blitzball was balanced atop his head. Smiling despite himself at the ridiculous sight, Riku shook his head before replying, "Good for you, you monkey."

That got a laugh out of Wakka as well and the athlete skillfully slid down the tree, never once dropping either the bananas or his ball. He looked towards the obstacle course before calling to Riku, "Imma head back, ya want me to come back and help ya wit da coconuts?"

Riku shook his head and replied, "Nah, I got it. You go ahead and I'll catch up."

Wakka frowned. "Ya sure mon?"

Riku nodded, waving him off. "It's fine. Go on ahead."

Shrugging, Wakka walked off, bananas in one hand, ball balanced on the other. Riku waited until the orange haired teen was out of sight. He turned his gaze towards a large rock pushed against a stone cliff, his smiling falling.

Moving away from the palm trees, Riku approached the large stone, placing his palm against the cool stone. He studied it a moment before pushing against it with a soft grunt. It took a few shoves, but the stone soon easily slid aside, revealing the cove it sealed off. Riku moved away from the stone, taking a step deeper into the cover to stare at what lay in it.

"Well, what do you know…" He mused aloud. "It's still here."

Before him rested a large raft, the sail curled up to the top of the mast. Riku stepped deeper into the cove, running his hand over the mast itself, feeling the letters of the rafts name he had personally carved in there. He chuckled once suddenly. "I still think _Highwind_ would have been a better name."

"But _Excalibur_ sounds so much cooler!" Interjected an all too familiar voice from behind him. Smiling, Riku turned around, and was not surprised to see Sora grinning back at him, both his hands locked behind his head. Riku crossed his own arms over his chest before replying, "But not as practical."

Sora just shrugged. "Meh. Still sounds pretty cool."

Chuckling and shaking his head, Riku walked over towards the trees as he said, "I still think since I did all the work, I should've named it."

Sora chased after his friend, while replying defensively, "Hey me and Kairi helped plenty!" Riku smirked. "Funny, I didn't know helping meant sleeping on the shore while I found all the materials."

Sora frowned at that. "I found what we needed too! I got all the food we would need!"

Riku nodded at that. "I guess that's something."

He glanced up at one of the trees, spotting several coconuts, though narrowed his eyes when he saw one was yellow. Without looking at Sora, he asked, "Which ones are the good coconuts again?"

Sora moved his hands from his head to scratch his chin as he tried to remember. "Uhhh…I'm pretty sure it's the yellow ones."

Riku nodded and slammed the back of his fist against the tree, rattling it and dislodging all three coconuts. Riku easily caught the yellow one while allowing the other ones to roll away. Riku held up the large fruit and asked, "Is one enough?"

Sora nodded. "Usually, yeah."

Riku nodded in return and said, "Well, I guess we should head back then."

Riku started back towards the path to the upper part of the island, where the training course they had built waited, but he paused when and turned, seeing that Sora was not following, only staring at him, though his usual cheerful expression was gone. Cocking a brow, Riku turned and asked, "What?"

Sora scratched the back of his head, staying silent for a moment. Then he asked solemnly, "Riku…are you okay?"

Well that wasn't out of the blue or anything. Riku gave Sora perplexed smile. "Yeah of course I am," He assured his friend. He walked back over to the brunette before asking, "What brought that up?"

Sora tipped his head down in thought. "Well, it's just…ever since we got back, you've mostly kept to yourself…and the first thing you do when we get here is try to get as far away from all of us as possible." Sora looked back up at Riku, his deep blue eyes meeting Riku's lighter ones. "Did you really want to be here today?"

Riku shook his head, unable to suppress a grin. "You're such a sap," He told Sora. That got an indignant "Hey!" from the younger brunette. Riku affectionately flicked his finger against Sora's forehead, and while the teen reeled in surprise, Riku spoke up. "You and Kairi honestly saved me from going mad in my own home. I don't regret coming today at all."

Still rubbing his forehead, Sora looked at Riku, still a little unconvinced. "You sure?" He asked.

The silver-haired teen nodded. "Yeah. Now come on, let's not keep Kairi waiting."

That got a priceless reaction from Sora, his cheeks flaring up a bit as he asked heatedly, "Hey what's that supposed to mean?"

Smirking, Riku turned and started off, asking as he did, "I dunno, wanna tell me?"

Sora growled and chased after his laughing friend. The two made their way over the bridge and back towards the door to the main part of the island. Riku had to smirk when he spotted a familiar red-head waiting for them. Kairi smiled when she spotted her two closest friends approaching. "There you two are!" She called as they were almost there.

Both teens paused momentarily to exchange looks, with Riku still smirking.

"See? What'd I tell you?

Sora opened his mouth to retort…but quickly shut it with a sigh of defeat.

Kairi was very confused when she saw Riku suddenly burst out laughing, but found herself smiling as well, with Sora following suite.

It was the first time they had seen him truly laughing in a very long time…

Kairi called to them again. "Come on! Let's have lunch!" Sora nodded eagerly and raced up to her, the two quickly heading through the door. Riku shook his head, still chuckling a little. He started after them-

But paused.

His smile fell slowly, morphing into an expression of unease. He glanced over his shoulder, but was only greeted by tall trees, sand and surf. He continued to stare for a moment.

Then he followed after Sora and Kairi.

* * *

The day went along as planned. That old saying of fun in the sun was rather apt.

Tidus had found his old practice pole as well as Sora and Riku's old wooden swords and promptly challenged the two to a tag team match. To almost no one's surprise, Riku and Sora easily handled Tidus and Wakka without breaking a sweat. Though Wakka took the loss in stride, Tidus had grumbled under his breath, "If this was Blitzball it'd be different…"

That had gotten a smirk and laugh from everyone.

Now the six teens sat gathered around a small fire as they waited for their fish to cook. When they were down, everyone helped themselves to one, save Selphie.

"That'll go straight to my thighs! Do you know how hard it is to maintain this figure?"

Tidus snorted and chomped down on his own fish before saying through a mouthful, "Pretty easy considering I hardly see you touch any food."

Insert the sound of flesh meeting flesh and a pained cry from Tidus, followed by a hearty chuckle from Wakka, along with a smirk from Riku and some sympathetic stares from Sora and Kairi. There was silence for a few moments, broken by the occasional roll of the waves on the shore.

It was Selphie who said, "I can't believe it's our junior year already. Where has the time gone?"

Tidus shrugged. "Same place it always goes I guess."

Wakka idly spun his Blitzball before asking, "So, anyone actually lookin' forward to dis year?"

Tidus snorted. "Only if we can finally make the championship this year."

Selphie was a little more enthusiastic. "Ooh, I can't wait! I got into this advanced web design class!"

That had Sora do a double take. "What? Seriously Selphie? I never would've figured you for something like that."

While normally a comment like this from anyone else (Especially Tidus) would've prompted a rather furious rebuttal, Selphie only winked slyly at Sora while saying, "I'm more than just a pretty face, Sora."

The poor male brunette flushed a little while the red-headed female next to him shot her friend a glare. Selphie only smiled innocently which turned devious when she saw Kairi scoot a little closer to Sora. This went unnoticed by Tidus and Wakka, the orange-haired teen looking at Riku as the silver-haired youth silently nibbled on his fried fish. Wakka suddenly said, "Hey, I heard you an' Sora gotta repeat you sophomore year. Dat's rough."

Selphie looked shocked by this, suddenly exclaiming, "Aw, seriously? That's awful!"

Tidus just snorted again. "That's what they get for taking a year off to do…what is it you two did again?" He asked, giving Riku and Sora a curious look, blonde brow raised.

Sora had a momentary look of utter panic and opened his mouth to reply, though no sound came out. Instead, Riku calmly answered, "Travelling abroad. Seeing the sights the world had to offer. Another year in high school is a small price to pay if you ask me."

Selphie frowned before speaking again, "Still, all of us are gonna be in different classes while you and Sora are held back."

Sora just smiled his usual cheerful smile. "Aw, it won't be so bad! We'll still see each other!"

Kairi smiled and slipped her hand into Sora's where they rested on the sandy shore before she said, "And plus if they take a summer course they may be able to get enough credits to join us in our senior year."

At that Sora groaned. "Aw come on Kairi! Do I really have to give up my summer vacation?"

Riku smirked at that. "I'd rather give up my summer if it meant getting out of school faster, although you're right to not do it Sora."

That made the brunette teen blink. "Huh? Why's that?"

Riku replied in a flat dead-pan, "You wouldn't last a second in the summer courses, the lessons would just fly right over your spiky head."

"Why you-!"

Everyone laughed at that, even Sora. There were no hard feelings between any of them, they had all been friends too long to let any kind of petty grievance bother them.

But time flied when you had fun…

And just as soon as the day of fun began…

"Oh my gosh! Is it this late already?" Selphie cried, hastily packing her lotions away and rolling up her towel. Tidus rolled his eyes while Wakka rested his Blitzball atop his head as they both stood on the pier by their boat, waiting for Selphie. When she had her items gathered she made a dash towards the pier but stopped just as she reached the stairs to call to Kairi, who stood by the small shack.

"Are you sure you guys want us to go ahead?"

Kairi smiled and nodded, calling back, "It's fine! Go on home, we'll catch up!"

That was all Selphie needed to hear and she made her way up the pier and into the boat, smiling up at Tidus and Wakka as she asked, "Well gentlemen?"

Tidus only rolled his eyes while Wakka continued to smile.

Kairi watched the three begin to depart before heading into the shack and quickly up the stairs, following after Sora and Riku. The two males stood on the small cliff where the bridge connected to the paopu island was connected, still debating.

"I could totally pass those summer courses, easy!"

"I'm sure you could."

"Is that a challenge?"

"You tell me."

Before Sora could reply, Kairi stepped through the large wooden door, closing it behind her as she interrupted, "Quit teasing him Riku, you know how he gets."

Riku sighed in an exaggerated theatrical fashion before saying, "Fine."

Sora smiled in victory but this look fell when Kairi slipped her hand into his and tugged him forward gently, towards the bridge, her beautiful face lit up in a smile, violet eyes gleaming.

"Come on or we're going to miss it!"

Sora nodded, grinning eagerly as well as he and Kairi dashed ahead, while Riku calmly followed after them, a smile of his own on his lips. The trio arrived on the small island, with Sora helping Kairi up onto the curved tree that bore the legendary paopu fruit before hopping up to sit next to her. Riku didn't join them on the tree's trunk but instead leaned against the base, crossing his arms as he did. Kairi smiled and breathed softly, "We're just in time."

A very long time ago the three of them had discovered that this island was the perfect viewing spot to witness the sun set in the distance. The golden star had already begun to sink beneath the waves, turning the blue sky a deep shade of red and orange, which was reflected on the water's surface. It was a breathtaking sight they had seen hundreds of times…

And savored always.

Silence passed between the three for a beat. Then, Kairi said, "It's been so long since we've done this…" She looked at both Sora and Riku, still smiling as she said, "I had fun today. How about you guys?" Sora grinned from ear to ear, nodding before replying earnestly, "Of course! Today was a total blast!" That made Kairi giggle. But suddenly, Sora's smile fell a little, and he looked back towards the setting sun. When he spoke again, his tone was quieter, almost somber. "Days like these are going to be harder to come by. We have to cherish every one of them."

Riku chuckled, closing his eyes as he interjected, "Don't we always? And if they're going to be harder to come by, we'll just have to work harder to have them."

Kairi peered down on the silver-haired teen, her smile and tone now teasing as she said, "You didn't answer my question! Did you have fun today?"

Riku nodded, before turning his head to smile up at his two best friends. "Of course. Everyday I'm here, at home, with you two is a great day to have."

Sora suddenly laughed loudly. Riku shot him a glare and demanded, "What?"

Sora still chuckled as he answered, "That just sounds so sappy coming from you!"

Riku scoffed, facing the setting the sun once again and crossing his arms before retorting, "I've clearly been hanging around you too much."

That got a giggle from Kairi, her hand raised towards her mouth, her violet eyes twinkling as both Sora and Riku glanced at her. "You two would make the perfect brothers," she explained. That had Sora grinning but he exclaimed in shock as Riku suddenly yanked him down by his leg and caught him in a headlock. "What are you talking about?" He asked, smiling brightly before playfully grinding his fist into Sora's hair. "We are brothers!"

Sora winced but laughed loudly. "Ow! Hey! Quit it Riku!"

That had all three laughing, while the sun continued to sink into the sea.

A few moments later the three were heading back down the bridge, with Kairi sighing and saying, "I guess it's time to go home. School starts tomorrow."

Sora groaned at that. "Ugh, don't remind Kairi!" That had the redhead smiling again, never failing to be amused by the brunette and his cute antics. She moved towards the door while saying, "I'll get our stuff." Sora blinked at that and started after her. "Hey Kairi, don't I'll get-"

"Sora."

Said brunette blinked and turned, gasping when he saw something yellow flying towards him. His hands jerked out, catching the projectile. He blinked when he saw it was a familiar yellow star shaped fruit. Sora turned his deep blue eyes forward, spotting Riku half way across the bridge with a smirk on his lips.

"Isn't it about time you two shared that?" He asked, voice completely serious.

Sora gave Riku a glare as he exclaimed, "Get serious!" Riku only shrugged, still smirking. Rolling his eyes, Sora looked the fruit over for a moment before chasing after Kairi through the wooden door back down onto the beach below. Riku chuckled to himself. He paused for a moment, turning his gaze out to look over the island, and the seas beyond it.

He had thought he would never earn the right to return home…

But here he was, and everybody had welcomed him back with open arms and warm smiles.

Riku smiled. "Such a small world…" He breathed.

But it was a part of something much greater…

Shaking his head, Riku began to follow after his friends-

"_This world has been connected._"

The silver haired teen froze, eyes wide.

Very slowly, he turned around to look back at the paopu island.

And there, standing directly on the island's center…

A figure stood, his form hunched over…

And hidden in a brown cloak.

The blackness in the folds of the figure's hood bore into Riku's wide eyes…

And very slowly…

The figure extended his right hand to Riku.

Riku's mouth fell open in a sudden inhalation-

"Riku!"

Said teen blinked and jerked his head to his right, looking down right on the beach. Sora and Kairi stood a little ways from the pier, looking up at him. "You coming?" Sora called.

Riku blinked, before quickly snapping his gaze back towards the paopu island.

The figure in the brown cloak was gone. Riku stared at the spot for several beats, his mind racing. Had he truly just seen that? And if so what did it-

"Rikuuuuu!" Both his friends called him now.

He stared at the spot for another moment.

…Just nerves, he concluded.

He was home, he was happy, everything was peaceful…

…It was almost too good to be true.

Deciding to give this no further thought, Riku turned and headed towards the door, following after his friends.

Night descended very quickly on the Destiny Islands…

Casting them in darkness within moments.

* * *

The normal silence of this dead world was broken by the rhythmic crunch of gravel under metal feet. It was accompanied by the irritating squeak of rusty joints. The two noises repeated in sync, over and over.

For how long? Minutes? Hours? Days?

It didn't matter.

Nothing else mattered at the moment.

The Lingering Sentiment had walked alone through the same empty paths that divided the rows upon rows of broke and rusted Keyblades. The unending and unchanging landscape meant nothing to it anymore. All the Sentiment cared about was following this foul smell of taint and evil to its source.

And when it found the source, the one who gave off this terrible odor of corruption…

The living armor's grip on its Keyblade tightened.

The armor walked for a few more minutes, its pace unchanging even as the stench became stronger and stronger…

And then it stopped.

The Lingering Sentiment now stood at the crossroads where the four paths through the rows of broken Keyblades ended. The creature slowly turned its head to its right. Only an empty path greeted it, the wind blowing in the distance, whipping up a small storm of dust.

For a split-second, the Sentiment swore it saw someone approaching it…

A smaller, lithe and curved figure…

The armor turned, extending its left arm out towards the approaching image, metallic groans emitting from within it.

"_A…Aq…_"

But the image faded as the dust settled.

The Sentiment stood there, its arm still out for several moments.

Then it let the limb fall back to its side, its shoulder slumping.

Nothing but a memory.

Always just a memory.

Never…

A sudden sound rang through the air, and the Sentiment jumped, armored form on alert. The foul stench of darkness was growing stronger, much stronger, and the acrid odor would have made the creature gag if it could still breathe. The stench continued to grow stronger and stronger, as if was consolidating around the Sentiment.

As soon as that thought occurred to the armor, it realized it was the truth-

Too late.

A puddle of inky blackness had gathered under the armor's feet, thin tendrils of darkness rising and wrapping around its legs. The Sentiment looked down, watching more of the tendrils reach up, wrapping around its waist now. Where normal human beings might feel fear and horror at the darkness's icy touch…

The Sentiment felt only rage.

The creature struggled, trying to rip its legs free, but by this point they had begun to sink into the pool of darkness, with more tendrils leeching out, this time to wrap around its arms and Keyblade. The creature struggled, using all of its impressive strength to break free.

To no avail, its legs and waist sinking entirely, its arms consumed a moment later. The armor could only sink further and further into the darkness, still struggling, its fury continuing to grow and grow, until just as its chest and neck were pulled in, it tossed its helm back as tendrils began to wrap around its visor, and howled, "_XEHANORT!_"

The darkness swallowed its helm and the Lingering Sentiment was consumed. The pool of inky blackness continued to forth and bubble for a few moments before it began to shrink, growing smaller…

And then it was gone, as if it had never been.

In the distance, through the dust and wind, a hunched figure had watched from afar, cloaked only in a simple brown robe. Then he too vanished, as if he had never been there to begin with.


	3. Chapter 2

A big thank you to AOZ, AquaStormXIV, HeartofFyrwinde, KHLover4LIFE, Lucifer's Remnants, Jthedogthesecond, LilWitching, TheAnnoyingFanGirl and Lazy Reviewer.

* * *

Chapter Two: The Warmth of Light.

* * *

The stars that dot the night sky are more than just balls of plasma and gasses held together by gravity.

They are the luminance of all the worlds that inhabit the sea of skies. For every star, there is a world. For every person, there is a star.

When a star goes out, a world has fallen into darkness. When a star flickers out, a person is no more. The brightness and intensity of a star represents how strong the light within the heart of that world or person is.

While long ago there was once a world with unequaled radiance…

That world has long since flickered and faded.

But now there is a new brightest star among the sky…

Truly, there is no world brighter than Disney Castle.

* * *

The morning was bright, the air was clear and the Brooms weren't causing mayhem and property damage for once.

All in all it was a good morning to Donald Duck.

The white feathered duck's yellow beak was curved and slightly parted in a happy smile, eyes wide as he confidently made his way down the open hallway to King Mickey's Audience Chamber. Donald was wearing his typical uniform as the Royal Magician, his wide brimmed dark blue hat with gold trim and long navy blue jacket, though he fidgeted and tugged the long collar of the second, lighter blue coat he was wearing over it. He had told Daisy it was too warm for it, but did she listen?

Sighing a squawk and shaking his beak, Donald arrived before the massive set of double doors and did an about face. Closing his eyes, he cleared his throat into his hand before knocking twice on a section of the door in front of him. Instantly there was a soft click, and the section of the door opened up to allow Donald entry. Smiling, the duck mage stepped through and into the great hall, walking along the red carpet lined with gold.

Donald was ecstatic that their adventure into the Datascape was finally over. As much as he loved his adventures with Sora (Even when it wasn't technically Sora…) he preferred the simpler life and duties as Court Mage, giving him a sense of peace and stability. And one of his first and foremost duties was to greet the king every morning and help plan the day's schedule.

"Good morning your majesty!" Donald squawked, his voice echoing across the remainder of the chamber to the king's throne, adorned by two statues of Donald himself and the captain of the royal guard, Goofy. Donald continued to make his way while saying, "It's a beautiful day today, don't you-"

And then he stopped, eyes widening as he exclaimed a, "What?!"

The king's decorative golden throne was empty.

The king was gone.

Donald stared for several moments, big eyes blinking once, then twice…

And then the duck mage let loose a screaming, rattling quack "WAAAAAA!" of panic before bolting out of the audience chamber and dashing out into the hall, his panicked run outlined by zig-zags.

The king was gone! AGAIN! And they had just gotten him back!

Donald blindly dashed for the royal garden courtyard, his first instinct to find Goofy, and that palooka was always snoozing there when he should be doing his duty! Donald dashed into the gardens, racing past all the decorative hedges and circling around the large castle hedge as he searched for the knight captain, all the while calling and ranting, "Goofy?! Goofy! We're in trouble! The king! The king's run off again! We gotta got find him before Queen Minnie-"

WHACK!

Poor Donald suddenly found himself flat on his back, staring up at the blue sky in a daze, very confused as to how he suddenly ended up like this. The frazzled duck rose up into a sitting position, shaking his head before rubbing one of his temples while groaning softly…and then blinking when he noticed how muffled his groan was. Donald felt along his beak and jumped when realized something was lodged inside it!

Before he had a chance to even blink or digest the situation, a blur of light brown fur suddenly tackled the poor duck and assaulted him with happy barks and sloppy kisses. Donald struggled futilely, but when King Mickey's faithful canine companion Pluto started, it was darn near impossible to get him to stop. The poor mage duck was completely distracted by Pluto and never heard a soft clank of metal approaching.

"There ya are Pluto! And hey, ya found Donald too!"

Donald finally managed to push Pluto off of himself to gaze up on his foolish friend who gazed down him with a dopey smile on his big mouth.

Much like Donald himself, Goofy was wearing his standard attire as captain of the knights, which included a long helm (well, more of a hat), a long gauntlet that covered his entire left arm with a single piece on his skinny right arm's bicep, leaving only one of his white gloves exposed, an orange shirt and pants bottomed off with a pair of long metal greaves.

Goofy watched with an expression of befuddlement as Donald angrily raged and fumed, his arms thrown up and stomping his webbed feet, angry quacks muffled oddly. Goofy suddenly realized why he couldn't understand anything his friend was saying.

"Oh there's our Frisbee!"

Donald paused, and his eyes glanced down at his beak.

Indeed, a red Frisbee was the object lodged in his beak.

Goofy reached down, grabbing the edge of the object while saying, "Here, let me help ya out there." With a rather gentle tug, Goofy easily yanked the plastic disk out from between Donald's beak, leaving the spellcasting fowl coughing and quacking for breath. Goofy carefully looked the Frisbee over while saying to Donald, "Sorry 'bout that, Donald, I musta tossed it too hard." When he saw Pluto eagerly crouching down, his big eyes locked on the Frisbee, Goofy smiled and pulled his arm down before calling, "Go long boy!" and letting the disk fly. Pluto was instantly after it, barking happily.

Goofy gave a happy "A-hyuck", at the sight of Pluto chasing after the Frisbee before glancing in Donald's direction again. When he saw his fowl friend was literally steaming, Goofy scratched the top of his head, eyes narrowed, expression curious as he said, "Aw, I'm sorry Donald. Did you want a turn throwin' it?" Donald's response was of course to be expected.

The duck screeched loudly and jump-tackled Goofy, knocking the dog over with a surprised "WHOAA!" and proceeded to throttle him while squawking, "Goofy get serious! The king's run off again! We've got a crisis!"

Goofy shook his head, clearing his daze from Donald's tackle and throttle combo, before closing his eyes and chuckling. That made Donald blink but before the duck could say something Goofy interrupted, calmly saying, "Aw shucks Donald you don't need ta be gettin' all jumpy! The king's fine! I just saw him!"

Donald did a double take. "What?!"

Goofy pointed behind Donald while explaining, "Who do ya thinks been playin' with me an' Pluto?"

Donald's only response was a rather unintelligent, "Huh?" before he finally looked over his shoulder to follow Goofy's hand. Just as he did, Donald saw the Frisbee fly over some hedges and Pluto caught it between his jaws with a running jump. Pluto turned tail and started towards someone, before sitting and happily wagging his tail as a white gloved hand patted the top of his head.

"Good boy Pluto!" A familiar high-pitched voice called. Donald gasped when the owner of the glove stepped into view, revealed to be King Mickey himself. The mouse king was dressed in his usual attire consisting of a black vest with golden buttons over a red shirt, red pants with blue stripes and yellow shoes. Mickey continued to happily pet Pluto before spotting Donald staring at him with his beak dropped while Goofy just continued grinning, waving at his king all the while.

Mickey waved back before calling to Donald, "Hey there Donald! Wanna give this a toss too?" he asked, holding up the Frisbee, with Pluto all the while happily panting and wagging his tail. Unfortunately, Donald wasn't in the mood for games. His flabbergasted expression quickly morphed into a look of annoyance, his clenched feathery fist shaking before he let loose another squawking howl before charging over to a suddenly confused Mickey, snatched the disk from his hand and threw it with all his might straight up into the air.

Mickey, Goofy and Pluto watched while Donald panted as the Frisbee soared into the sky before veering down…and landing on one of the castle's towers. Once seeing this, Pluto's eyes and ears drooped and his tail stopped wagging as he let out a soft whine of disappointment. Goofy scratched the top of his head again, frowning while Mickey sighed and shook his head before looking at Donald. "Well, I guess that was a good toss, just a little too strong and a little too high, Donald. Now one of us is going to climb up there and get it."

Goofy promptly threw up his gauntleted arm and exclaimed, "Not it!"

Mickey was about to follow his example, but Donald interrupted him. "Your majesty! You can't just run off to play! We have morning duties to attend too and we're behind enough as it is!"

Mickey sighed, rubbing the back of his head before replying, "Aw, gee Donald. After our adventure into the Datascape, I thought we could all use a day off and just have some fun. Not to mention we never got a chance to rest after finally stopping the Organization."

Donald stamped his foot as he exclaimed, "Your majesty you can't just decide to shirk your duties! You have to set an example for the people! If you don't do your job, why should they?!"

Mickey rubbed his chin at that, humming softly as he thought for a moment. Then he smiled and snapped his fingers. "Ah! Well, I am the king aren't I? Can't I just give myself a day off?"

Donald's eyes widened and his beak fell open at that. Behind him, Goofy chuckled. "He's gotta point Donald! He's the boss!"

To respond to that, Donald whipped out his trusty Mage's Staff and gave Goofy a good smack on his head, the sound of metal ringing echoing through the garden followed by Goofy's "OW!" Donald wagged his staff at Goofy and snapped, "Quiet you! You're not helping!"

Mickey sighed and quickly moved next to Donald, Pluto following in his master's steps. "Alright Donald, calm down. No need to hurt poor Goof over some silly duties. Let's head to my office and get started."

That finally calmed the spellcasting duck down. Donald breathed a smile of relief and his beak curved in a grin, though Mickey and Goofy, who was still rubbing his aching head, didn't exactly return it. "Thank you your majesty," Donald said but suddenly paused before looking at Mickey and asking, "Wait your majesty, weren't you supposed to write to Sora and his friends about what we found in the Datascape?"

At that, Mickey paused, eyes widening, mouth open in a small gasp. He lowered his head and rubbed his chin in thought for a moment, his thin tail moving back and forth for a moment. Then he looked sheepishly at Donald and finally said, "Uhhh…gosh, I think I forgot to do that."

That had both Donald and Goofy's jaws drop and Donald was about to scream 'Your majesty!'

But someone else beat him to it.

"Your majesty!"

"King Mickey!"

Said mouse king blinked and whirled around, his duck mage and dog knight following suite to gaze up at the railing that overlooked the courtroom hallway. There, two tiny chipmunks could be seen jumping up and down, both wearing tiny engineer uniforms and gloves but distinguished by the right one's darker fur and nose while the left had lighter fur and a big red nose. Mickey quickly moved closer to the railing while calling back to them, "Chip! Dale! What's the matter fellas?"

Chip, the dark nosed chipmunk, leapt up and down as he replied in a panic, "Queen Minnie sent us to get you! She sounded really worried!"

Mickey gasped at this, eyes widening, "Minnie?" he whispered his beloved queen's name.

Dale mimicked his brother's motions, jumping up and down as he exclaimed, "She's in the Hall of the Cornerstone of Light! She said to get there fast!"

Mickey didn't need to hear anything after that. His queen was in distress and if there were any other duties as king he put first and foremost it was the protection of his queen, his friends and people and his home, in that order. Mickey took off, racing for the doors that led back into the castle, with Donald, Goofy and Pluto hot on his trail, the knight and mage both calling after him, "Your majesty wait!" Pluto barked after them, the four heading into the castle.

* * *

The secret hall under the Audience Chamber was voted to be the safest possible place for the ancient relic known as the Cornerstone of Light. The powerful artifact safeguarded the entire world of Disney from the threat the darkness and was too valuable to placed anywhere else. The only way to access it was to find a switch on the king's throne. Much like the Audience Chamber above, it was a rather simple yet elegant design of plain white walls in a spacious chamber.

Queen Minnie stood nervously across from the Cornerstone, dressed in her usual attire of a pink dress with a large red bow on the back, elegant white gloves and her golden tiara atop her head. The queen's expression was one of worry as she continued to gaze upon something just beyond the Cornerstone.

Behind her stood her loyal handmaiden and friend, Daisy Duck, dressed in her own usual violet dress and gloves, her own tiara smaller than her queen's. Daisy was looking between Minnie and the sight just beyond the Cornerstone, her hand raised nervously to her beak, eyes narrowed with worry.

The tense silence was broken by a sudden shifting from above, quickly followed by multiple racing footsteps dashing down the stairs. Upon hearing this, both Minnie and Daisy turned and relief flooded them when they saw it was Mickey, Donald and Goofy, followed by Pluto with Chip and Dale on his back. Upon seeing her king, Minnie exclaimed, "Mickey!" and quickly moved to meet him in the center of the hall. Spotting his queen, Mickey raced up to her, catching her hands as he breathed with relief, "Minnie!"

Goofy slowed his pace to a complete stop, raising his gloved hand towards his shocked face when he saw the source of Minnie and Daisy's distress. "Oh no," he whispered.

"Daisy!" Donald called as he quickly raced over to his girlfriend. The female fowl was relieved at the sight of her boyfriend, meeting him halfway and exclaiming, "Oh thank goodness you're here Donald!"

Mickey meanwhile looked at Minnie and asked hurriedly, "What is it Minnie? What's wrong?"

Minnie stepped away from Mickey and turned towards the Cornerstone, her expression grim and unnerved. Mickey followed her gaze, his eyes confused…then understanding…and then just as worried.

Chip and Dale both hopped on Pluto's back, with Dale shouting, "It's back again your majesty!" and Chip piquing in, "Just like before!" Pluto whined softly as he moved next to king and queen mice, before laying down by them, his own normally happy face caught in a frown.

Donald raised his hand to his beak and moaned a "Ooooh…"

Mickey stepped forward, whispering, "What the…"

Though the Cornerstone of Light was a sight to behold on its own, a swirling luminescence of hallowed light trapped in a glass sphere…

It was nothing compared to what had appeared behind it.

It was a swirling circular portal composed of streams of dark blue and silver light that was easily twice the size of the Cornerstone itself. Mickey slowly moved past the Cornerstone to get a better look at the monstrous portal, asking aloud to no in particular, "What is this? Where did it come from?"

Dale jumped up again while exclaiming, "No idea your majesty!" Chip joined in again to add, "It just showed up out of the blue again!"

That made Mickey blink and turn, asking in shock, "Again?"

Daisy nodded and explained, "It appeared a while back, and Chip and Dale asked Sora, Donald and Goofy to investigate it."

Mickey looked at his two closest friends, asking them, "Is that true fellas?"

Both Donald and Goofy nodded but didn't reply, instead still looking absolutely terrified by the sight of the portal.

Mickey turned back towards the portal, brow furrowing. He extended his right hand towards it, eyes closing for a moment before he re-opened them. "I can't sense…" The king started, eyes moving for a moment as he sought the right words. "Any darkness from this," He finally said.

He frowned, cocking his head, his hand lowering a little before speaking again. "But I do sense…something."

"Rage," a soft voice added.

Mickey looked over his shoulder, seeing Minnie walking closer towards him, her hands clasped together in front of her. She went on. "Hate, sadness, pain, and a terrible hurt…"

She stood by her king, both looking up at the portal. Mickey looked at Minnie and asked, "This is the second time this has appeared?" Minnie nodded, replying, "It's very distressing…these feelings from it are very powerful…" Mickey nodded before looking back towards the portal again.

"Where does it go?" he asked aloud, taking a single step towards it-

That made both Donald and Goofy lunge forward, with the knight exclaiming "Your majesty!" and Donald screeching "Don't!" Mickey looked over his shoulder to gaze in surprise at the sight of his two best friends panicking. Goofy shook his hands and head while stuttering, "Don't do it king Mickey! There's someone reeeeeal scary on the other side!"

Donald nodded in earnest, squawking, "Yeah, Goofy's right! Even with Sora all of us almost got finished by the guy on the other end of that portal!"

Mickey looked back at the strange portal, his brow furrowed but now his eyes gleamed with determination. "Really now?" He asked, hand flexing open at his side. "The fact whoever is on the other side of the portal has upset my queen and hurt my closest friends…that's enough to really irk me."

Mickey's fist closed tightly.

"And while I wasn't around to do anything last time…"

Mickey swept his right out and a flash of light extended out from his open palm, forming the outline of a long blade with key features. When the light faded, it revealed a blade easily as long as Mickey was tall. The square hilt guard was silver, with a long golden chain with a charm that resembled Mickey's own head dangling at the end, the blade itself a shining gold, the teeth of the blade shaped in the pattern of a crown. Everyone gasped at the sight of Mickey summoning his Keyblade.

Mickey glared up at the portal and declared boldly, "But I am now!"

And with that he leapt straight into the swirling streams of blue and silver, vanishing almost instantly. Everyone gasped loudly in horror, with Minnie uttering "Mickey!" though a split second later Donald and Goofy were chasing after him while screaming, "YOUR MAJESTY!"

The duck mage and dog knight leapt through the portal after him, vanishing just as quickly as their king did.

Minnie and Daisy stood alone, with Minnie moaning softly in worry which prompted Daisy to put her hand on her queen's shoulder in support, while Chip and Dale stood atop a despondent Pluto. They all stared at the swirling portal in a tense silence.

* * *

Mickey blinked rapidly, from a combination of a sudden lack of light, and a heavy dose of dust in the swirling wind. He blinked rapidly, putting his hand over his eyes to protect them from the dust. Something tickled in the back of his mind, like something was about to flutter to the surface-

But his thoughts were broken by two sudden loud exclamations followed by an equally loud 'thud' behind the mouse king.

Mickey turned around, eyes squinting through the dust and the shadows of his glove, though they widened briefly when he saw it was Donald and Goofy collapsed in a heap on top of each other. Goofy rose up while shaking his head and shielding his eyes with his gauntlet covered arm, calling, "Your majesty!" Donald scrambled up, hiding his eyes from the dust with both his hands as he called, "Where are you?"

"I'm right here fellas!" Mickey called back to them, quickly moving towards the duo as they stood up. Goofy looked fearfully from right to left, raising his hand towards his face as he swallowed loudly. "Gwarsh, we really shouldn't be here, your majesty."

Donald nodded, giving Mickey a pleading look. "Goofy's right! We gotta get outta of here before he notices us!"

Mickey frowned again. Who was it that had his two closest friends so worried? And where were they? There was no place like this anywhere in Disney, so what was this place?

And why did it feel familiar…

The dust begin to settle suddenly as the wind died down, slowly revealing the area the three found themselves in.

Mickey's eyes narrowed as he studied the dry, cracked earth under his feet and the various rising mesas and plateaus in the distance-

And then his eyes widened as he remembered exactly where this was.

The mouse king's eyes widened in a combination of understanding, horror, and confusion. "This is…impossible! This world was sealed away!" He breathed under his breath, his gaze snapping in one direction to the next. Donald and Goofy meanwhile were likewise looking around, and looking about as confused as Mickey was, but for entirely different reasons.

Goofy looked to Donald and said, "Gwarsh, do ya see him?"

Donald shook his head, beak curved down in a worried frown. "Uh-uh. But's he gotta be around here somewhere."

Mickey blinked at that and turned to look at his knight and mage. "What are you two talking about?" Donald looked up at Goofy, the two exchanging a worried look before the duck turned to look at Mickey and began to explain. "Well, there was this guy in a suit of armor…but it doesn't look like he's here anymore." Mickey's eyes widened at the mention of 'armor'.

"What color was it?" He suddenly asked.

Donald blinked, flabbergasted, while Goofy scratched the top of his head in thought.

"Huh…I think it was red and…uh, gold, maybe?" He answered.

Mickey's eyes narrowed in thought.

Goofy looked to his king and added, "The strangest part was, he had a Keyblade too! Just like you, Sora, and Riku!" Mickey eyes widened but quickly narrowed as he looked away from Donald and Goofy. Donald chose to add, "He was dangerous, King Mickey! He thought Sora was Xehanort!"

Mickey snapped his head forward, eyes wide. "Did he say anything else?" the king asked heatedly.

Both Donald and Goofy hummed a "Uhhh…" Before Donald's eyes lit up and he exclaimed, "Yeah! He mentioned someone named 'Aqua'!"

Mickey's breath caught in his throat.

Goofy was again scratching the top of his head as he hummed a, "Hmmm…and I think he said another name…uh, I think it was, uh, Veggie? Ventilate? Venquist? No, it was-"

"Ventus," Mickey breathed. Goofy nodded, smiling and replying, "A-yup! That was it!" He suddenly frowned and scratched the top of his head again. "Huh. Hey Donald? Is it just me or do those names sound kinda familiar?"

Donald crossed his arms and rubbed his hand under his beak before looking up at his taller friend and saying, "Now that you mention it Goofy they kinda do!"

Mickey was paying no attention to either of them, his mind racing from this revelation. Then, he suddenly declared, "We're going back." Donald and Goofy looked back at Mickey in confusion, uttering a "Huh?"

But Mickey was already moving past them, calling to the duck and dog as he reached the portal, "Come on! There's no time to waste!"

Donald and Goofy exchanged concerned looks but followed after their king back to the swirling portal of blue and silver. Mickey leapt in first, vanishing in a second, with Donald and Goofy following close behind. Though, if any of them had stayed for a second longer and looked just beyond the direction beyond it…

Down below in the canyon, the dust had begun to settle…

Revealing the vast, seemingly never-ending rows of rusted and shattered Keyblades.

* * *

Minnie, Daisy, Pluto and Chip and Dale felt as if the tension couldn't get any thicker as the continued to wait for their king and his companions to return. The portal suddenly hummed and everyone gasped as Mickey emerged from it, landing easily on the floor, his Keyblade still in hand. He moved forward a few steps, expression determined while behind him, the portal deposited Donald and Goofy into a heap on the floor.

King Mickey moved away from the portal, beady eyes locked onto Chip and Dale.

"Chip! Dale! Head to the hanger and prep the Gummi Ship!"

That had everyone confused, but the chipmunks quickly snapped straight and saluted. "We're on it your majesty!" Chip squeaked. "You can count on us!" Dale added before the two hopped off of Pluto's back, the pooch turning to watch them leave before looking back at his master. Mickey looked over his shoulder and back towards Donald and Goofy.

"Get yourself together fellas and get ready to go! We're leaving as soon as the ship is prepped!"

Donald and Goofy's eyes widened and they exchanged shocked looks but quickly put on their game faces and stood up straight, saluting their king as well and saying in sync, "Yes, your majesty!" They quickly followed after Chip and Dale, leaving Mickey with Minnie, Daisy and Pluto.

Mickey's loyal dog quickly raced up to him, whining with concern. Mickey gave Pluto a reassuring smile and a gentle pat on the head. Minnie walked over to her king, her face wrought with worry. "Oh, must you leave again? So soon?" She asked, hands clasped together.

Mickey sighed sadly and nodded before looking to his queen and saying, "I've got to get a handle on this before it gets outta hand, and I may be too late already."

This only made Minnie even more worried. "But where are you going?" She asked.

Mickey looked away for a moment, his grip on his golden Kingdom Key tightening before looking back at Minnie and declaring:

"To Master Yen Sid's tower!"

* * *

Silence.

Emptiness.

Darkness.

How long had it been trapped here?

It seemed as if only an instant ago the shadows had dragged the Sentiment into their dark depths and left it there. But time meant nothing to the living armor or the shadows around it. What was Xehanort planning? Why lure the Sentiment only to trap it in darkness?

The Sentiment no longer feared the darkness, only loathed it and the man who commanded it. But one way or another…

It would be free.

Suddenly, in the distance ahead…

A pinprick of light appeared through the darkness.

The Sentiment watched as the light continued to shine brighter and brighter, casting away the shadows that bound the Sentiment. This allowed the armor to rip its left hand free from the tendrils that held it down and reach towards the light with flexing fingers.

Familiar warmth caressed cold steel…

And the darkness fell away into absolute light.

* * *

Metal scraped against stone.

The Lingering Sentiment stumbled as it suddenly found itself standing upright once more, its free hand reaching out to grasp a close wall for support.

Sounds assaulted it. It could hear many footsteps and voices all at once, muffled, but not far away, just around the corner it was in.

The Sentiment raised its helm, black glass peering up to study the buildings around it and the sky above it.

The buildings all appeared to have been hastily repaired; a strange mixing and melding of brick and wood, while the sky above was a unique indigo and fading blue, some clouds littering it above. The Sentiment cocked its head slowly as it took in this strange place's scent.

There was darkness…and something else.

The smell of…

Jasmines.

Roses.

Tulips.

Violets.

The scent of darkness…

Mixed with radiant flowers.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Lasting Shadows.

* * *

Restoring a broken world wasn't easy.

You could fix the collapsed buildings, pave new roads, and make new homes.

But there were more than just buildings to fix. Lives are not so easily mended.

Many had been lost when Radiant Garden fell into darkness ten years ago, invaded by the darkness given flesh, the Heartless.

But those who would see this world restored persevered. And while some days were hard, and the goal they sought always seeming to be just beyond their reach…

There were days that were rewarding, and made the burden they bore lighter.

This…

Was not one of those days.

* * *

"C'mon, Cid! Pleeeeeeeeeeease?" A high-pitched, rather whiny female voice begged the very annoyed former pilot currently trying to type up the latest readout on the large monitor in front of him. Cid sighed and rubbed his eyes for a second, trying to keep his already short temper and patience in check. The combination of staring at this screen for the last six hours and the ninja girl whinnying in his ear was enough to give him a pretty serious migraine.

All he wanted to do was wrap up these new projections and implement some new functions into Claymore so he could get off this computer and get a shower. His short spiky blonde locks were greasy and drooping, he had bags under his eyes and he was pretty sure if he was in polite company, people would be quick to notice he really needed to change into some fresher clothes, his white shirt and baggy blue pants dirty and in badly a need of a wash as he was. But no, he had to deal with the world's most annoying ninja before any of that.

At least that old coot wasn't here to add to his headache…

Lowering his hand, Cid replied slowly, his voice straining with great restraint, "Yuffie, for the last time, I am not going to program Claymore to attack those pixies every time they steal your ice cream!"

Yuffie curled lips in a combination of a frown and pout. "But why not?" She went on, tone still whinny and like sandpaper on his ears. Cid groaned and rolled his eyes before replying, "Couple of reasons. First and most obvious: It's unethical."

Yuffie crossed her arms at that, her frown/pout combo turning all pout now, before blowing a raspberry and saying, "Psh, like ethics mean anything to pixies!"

Cid thrust a finger in her face, snapping, "Zip it! I ain't done talkin'!"

Yuffie flinched and jumped back with a soft yelp, waving her hands out defensively while saying, "Jeez! Ok, sorry!"

Scowling, Cid went on.

"Two: It's easily the dumbest thing you've ever asked me to do."

Yuffie huffed at that, her hands on her hips as she countered with, "No it's not!"

Cid rolled his eyes and smirked, reaching into his waistband to pull out his box of toothpicks, popping a fresh one between his lips before murmuring, "Please. Tell me a stupider request."

Yuffie started to open her mouth to reply but quickly shut it as her violet eyes lit up with realization and her pale cheeks flared into a nice shade of rose, her face scrunching up in fresh fury. "Oh very funny Cid!" The former pilot merely shrugged, returning his attentions to back to the monitor and resumed finishing his tasks.

Yuffie's hands slid behind her back and her angered expression turned into a good imitation of Cid's own exasperated look as she implored further, "But they're so annoying! And all they do is show up to pester us! They steal our munny, our weapons, and anything else that so much as sparkles!"

She paused at that, eyes turning away from Cid as she murmured under her breath, "And let's not forget they're fond of stealing ice cream mid-lick…"

Cid raised his hand at that, index finger extended. "Re-evaluate all that and realize Yuffie…that they only steal from you."

Yuffie huffed, crossing her arms and replied tersely, "So?!"

Cid went on. "That's called karma."

Yuffie threw her arms down and snapped, "No it's called annoying little pixies who need to be zapped like bugs!"

Cid waved her off. "Ehh, even if I did program Claymore to target them they, it wouldn't zap 'em so much as blow up when it touches 'em."

Yuffie threw her arms up in the air in exasperation, yelling, "UGH! I did need to know how it works I just need it to work! And by work I mean MAKE THEM LEAVE ME ALONE AND STOP TAKING MY STUFF!"

Cid shook his hand at her in mock disproval, never taking his gaze away from the large monitor in front of him, though his lips did curve upward in a smile of relief as he pounded the keys one last time and breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally done," he murmured to himself, rising up from his chair and stretching, breathing a sigh of relief when several cracks sounded from his back and neck, much needed relief flooding through his nerves and old joints.

Turning his steely blue eyes back onto the still fuming ninja girl, Cid spoke up again, "Now as much as love to indulge you and make your life better-"

"No you don't!"

"-if you'll excuse me, I have a long overdue meeting with my shower and bed."

With that said, Cid started towards the door out of the cottage while Yuffie threw her arms down and crossed them over her chest, pouting once more and murmuring angrily, "I guess I'm just gonna have to trade my shuriken for a fly swatter…"

Cid chuckled at that as he reached the door, hand about to touch the knob-

When the monitor suddenly flashed and flared red, with a loud siren beginning to emit from it. Cid groaned loudly while Yuffie shrieked and jumped behind him. He rounded on the jumpy ninja, his trademark scowl deepened into a furious glare as he barked, "What'd you touch?!"

Yuffie held up her hands in defense, sputtering, "I didn't do anything! For real! It just started making that noise on its own, I swear!"

Growling, and very, _very_ annoyed he had been denied his chance to go home and rest, Cid stomped back over to the monitor and terminal, sitting down harshly and furiously pounding the keys of the terminal to find the problem. Thankfully, the alarm turned off and Yuffie didn't say anything else, only watched him work. Cid's toothpick was raised up and his brow furrowed down in anger.

Then the toothpick slowly lowered and his annoyed furrow lifted to become a confused one. His steely eyes narrowed as his typing slowed and eased in pace, and he muttered, "What the…"

Yuffie blinked and hedged a step closer to Cid, asking, "What? What is it?"

Cid didn't look back at her, continuing to type away at the terminal and stare at the monitor above, reading its output as he responded, "Claymore's sensors picked up some weird fluctuation of darkness in the town square, 'round the shopping district."

Yuffie moved closer to Cid, her expression uncharacteristically serious as she asked, "Heartless?"

Cid shook his head. "Nah. It was darkness yeah, but there's no Heartless and the fluctuation's already starting to disappear. Could be nothin' at all but some kinda spike in the system…" He paused his words and his typing before finally turning to look at the young girl.

"Still, can't hurt if you go find Leon and check it out. Probly nothin', but sometimes nothin' turns out to be somethin'."

Yuffie frowned and crossed her arms. "Oh please, if it does turn out to be nothing, Squall will chew me out for wasting his time." She turned and started towards the door, calling over her shoulder as she did, "I, the great ninja Yuffie, can handle this by myself!"

And with that she promptly threw open the door and raced out. Cid watched her run off and vanish around a corner, sighing and shaking his head before standing up. "Great ninja…" He murmured, scratching the back of his head before sighing, "Right." He glanced back at the computer monitor, eyes narrowing.

Something about was giving him a bad feeling…

Back in the alleys just beyond the cottage, Yuffie eagerly raced down the empty path, an excited grin on her face.

"That old geezer is worried over nothing! It's probably just some Heartless trying to sneak into town! I'll just squash 'em like bugs and then help myself to some goodies from the stores from the grateful shopkeepers!" With that thought in mind, her grin widened and she made an impressive sudden jump, bouncing off a wall and landing on a higher pathway, taking a short cut to the shopping district.

Unknown to the great ninja…

A pair of large dark eyes watched her, filled with curiosity as a soft, "Hurr?" rumbled from between a strange blue furred creature's lips.

* * *

This place…

It felt…

Familiar.

The Sentiment pushed itself away from the wall it had been leaning against, taking a few stumbling steps forward, closer towards the sounds and smells.

It nearly stumbled down the stairs in front of it, but once more gripped the wall for support, its helm turning to the left, focusing on the sounds…

This place that smelled of flowers…

Why did it fill the armor with these strange feelings of familiarity?

The Sentiment continued down the steps, while just ahead, an open area with several people milling around, speaking to one another in a square below a raised alcove with vendors and shops. The armor could hear multiple voices all at once, various conversations at once, but it tuned in to none.

It studied its new surroundings in confusion. The buildings rooftops were strange, misshapen, with pieces of wood and pipe work sticking out. The Sentiment moved away from the wall, stepping into the square itself, helm moving slowly from left to right before centering itself again.

Several onlookers had spotted the armor, gaping mouths wide but soon closed as they began to whisper to themselves, but others paid the creature no mind at all, going about their business. The Sentiment cared little for these people one way or the other. It had not seen real people in so long…

But they didn't matter.

This scent of flowers…

Why was it so familiar?

The Sentiment's head continued to move slightly, following the pattern of sounds and scents…

Then it stopped.

There.

Yet something else familiar…

Under the chatter of the crowds…

Water.

The sound of flowing water.

The living armor turned its helm forward, focusing on the sound…

A flicker of sunlight reflected off a small cascading waterfall in the square below.

The Lingering Sentiment pushed itself away from the wall it had been leaning on and staggered forward, gripping the small ledge overlooking the square and easily hopping over, its frayed cape fluttering behind it as it landed with a soft sound of metal scraping stone. This action prompted more onlookers to turn their attention towards the armor, but the Sentiment continued to ignore them as it approached the small reflecting pool. The armor's visor gazed on the shimmering pool, and as it stood before the flowing water, it felt something stirring inside it.

And it was confused by this.

This feeling stirring…

It was not rage, the only thing left it knew but…

Something else…something almost forgotten but still familiar.

The Sentiment lifted its left hand up, letting the fingers of its gauntlets slide through the flowing water, the cold liquid sliding down its rusted arm.

No sooner had the Sentiment's fingers touched the water did its mind haze over…

And remember what it so desperately wanted to forget.

* * *

_Her words struck him with enough force to wind him._

_Had anyone else said them, he would not have cared._

_But her…_

_The distrust and accusation in them was enough to wound him to his very core…_

_But the betrayal ignited the anger and that burned away everything else._

"_Listen to yourself Aqua!" His younger brother snapped. "Terra would never-"_

"_You mean you've been spying on me?" He asked voice low and hushed with barely restrained rage._

_Both his brother and she looked at him, shocked by the fury deep in his eyes. He went on._

"_Is that what he said to do? The Master's orders?"_

_She bit her lip and looked away before responding weakly, "He was only…"_

_His brother lowered his head in regret, uttering her name in betrayal._

_He exhaled softly before saying, "I get it." He did._

_They could no longer trust him because of the dark fires that burned in his heart._

_So he turned and began to walk away._

_His brother called after him, and he could hear him follow-_

"_Just stay put!" He snapped._

_He dared not look back, less he lose his resolve._

"_I'm on my own now, alright?" He would not turn to them for aide anymore. If they could not trust him, he would not trust them._

_She called to him as he resumed walking._

"_Please listen! The Master has no reason to distrust you, really! He was just worried!"_

_But still he did not turn to her._

_He had been forsaken and he would not be fooled again._

_He would seek out the only one he could still trust…_

_He would prove himself, one way…_

_Or another._

* * *

Slowly, the fingers of the Sentiment's gauntlets curled under the water, forming a shaking fist.

Memories…

They were fleeting, always different, but always igniting the same feelings within the armor.

Sorrow.

Pain.

Regret.

But these emotions were only brief sparks compared to the inferno of the rage these memories always awoke.

She was gone.

His brother was gone.

Pride had blinded the Sentiment to the truth of Xehanort's actions, and now it had nothing left.

Nothing but endless fury in a lonely existence that dragged on and on.

The Sentiment gazed upon the reflecting water, staring at the rusted helm and expressionless black visor, its hand still under the water. In the darkness of the visor…

It could almost see a pair of golden eyes narrowed, filled with taunting dark mirth.

Then the Sentiment reared its arm back and slammed its fist into the wall behind the waters, smashing the concrete and stone easily, small pebbles and splashes of water flying around it. The Sentiment heard the shocked gasps and then the horrified cries of the people along with the shuffling of their feet as they fled from the marketplace and away from the enraged suit of armor.

The Sentiment hardly cared or took notice, ripping its fist free from the crater that had once been a wall for the reflecting pool.

There was nothing left…

But this endless fury that drove it and the hatred for the one who had stolen everything from it.

The stench of darkness permeated the air, and it didn't care how far it had to search or how many more walls it had to smash in between itself and Xehanort, but that monster would not hide from the Sentiment or escape its vengeance. The living armor moved away from the shattered wall and beginning to move forward, metallic greaves stepping through the puddles of the water it had created. The foul odor of darkness filled the air, tainting everything in this broken world, but the Sentiment would find Xehanort and-

'Snikt'.

The sound of metal unsheathing gave the Sentiment pause before something collided with its visor, causing the creature's head to jerk back.

Whoever threw the projectile must have found the sight of the Sentiment's head tipping back comical, because a soft giggle echoed over the fading panicked cries of the fleeing, and over the spilling water.

The Sentiment lowered its helm, its free hand reaching up and ripping the offending item from its visor before glancing down at its palm where it now lay.

A four sided shuriken.

And then a rather high pitched and annoying voice asked, "Well what do we have here?"

The Sentiment glanced away from the shuriken to look up, towards the rooftops. There. Someone was standing atop a roof directly across from the Sentiment.

The Sentiment cocked its head. A…girl? Dressed in a dark vest over a top, with dark shorts and boots to match, the end of a headband fluttering around her head, a smirk on her lips.

The Sentiment continued to stare up at this newcomer, listening as she opened her mouth to speak again.

* * *

Yuffie was just about to turn the corner when she heard a loud crashing sound, like metal striking stone. Cocking her head, she uttered, "Huh? What was- WHOA!"

Yuffie jumped back just in time to barely avoid being crushed by a sudden mob of screaming people that rushed past her. Yuffie's violet eyes widened in shock, before she looked in the direction the mob had fled from. The marketplace.

Yuffie frowned for a moment before shrugging and smirking a bit. "Well, I guess it's more than one Heartless after all." Glancing up towards the rooftops, Yuffie's smirk grew and she suddenly vanished in a burst of smoke and swirling leaves. A second burst of smoke burst atop the roof she had been looking at, and vanished quickly to reveal Yuffie, who now had a perfect view of the marketplace below.

What she saw made her eyes widen and she gasped a second, "Whoa!"

Standing directly in the center of the marketplace square was a tall figure in a cape and suit of red and gold armor, really rusty and beaten armor at that, a knight straight out of one of the many of storybooks Merlin owned. And this knight was pulling his fist out of the shattered wall that had been the marketplace's reflecting water fall! Yuffie narrowed her eyes, murmuring, "Not a Heartless at all then…at least he doesn't look one I've ever seen…still," she mused, raising her right hand, a small four sided shuriken spinning between her fingers. "He's causing a ruckus and that's just not cool!"

With that she let the small weapon fly, the shuriken finding its mark and striking the black visor on the helm over the knight's face, and the force of the shuriken strike actually made the guy's head jerk back! Yuffie couldn't stifle her giggles at the sight. The guy lowered his head and reached up to pry the shuriken from his helm with little effort before giving it a look over in his palm.

Deciding this was the perfect time to make a dramatic entrance, Yuffie called to the armored knight, "Well what do we have here?"

The knight turned his helm towards the sound of her voice, his head cocking, reminding Yuffie of a curious dog. Those weird wing tips rising from his helm weren't helping her try to keep a straight face. Keeping her tone light, Yuffie went on, "You must be new in town! And while I have no idea where you're from, around here we don't go around smashing fountains and scaring the locals! That's just rude!"

She trailed off, waiting to see or hear some kind of response, the usual bad guy banter where they screamed their name, motives, and reasons for being evil, yadda yadda, bla bla…

Nothing.

Silence.

The knight only continued to stare up at Yuffie like she was a curious display.

This was a little unnerving but she didn't let it so, instead she went on, "Quiet type huh? That's fine, I can do more than enough talking for both of us." She quickly moved forward and jumped off the rooftop, landing gracefully in front of a shop over the square and silent knight, a new shuriken held between her fingers.

"So. You gonna clean up your mess and leave quietly before this has to get ugly?"

The knight straightened his gaze, his head no longer cocked, and shifted his hand, dropping the shuriken to the ground. Yuffie absentmindedly watched the weapon fall, her gaze catching the sudden flicker of the knight's frayed cape-

And then she saw what the knight was holding in his right hand.

Her eyes widened in disbelief and she uttered, "No way…"

In the knight's hand was a long weapon colored a faded bronze, with four teeth at the end, followed by a fan like tip. The weapon possessed a handguard that was colored a faded metallic blue, the guard shaped vaguely like wing tips. Dangling from the bottom of the guard was a chain with a curious charm attached at the end.

While the general shape was foreign, there were all too familiar shapes and characteristics the weapon carried that she had seen time and time again.

"That's a Keyblade!" She exclaimed, her eyes returning to the knight. He remained silent, but glanced at his weapon, seeming to study it as well before returning his unseen gaze on Yuffie. The great ninja's bravado had faded slightly at the sight of the weapon, confusion filling her.

_How can he have one of those? I though Sora and the king were the only two who still had Keyblades!_ Her mind argued. She shook her, head, putting her smirk back on, though even she knew it probably didn't look so convincing anymore.

Keyblade or not, she had to put this guy in his place.

"You ready?" She taunted, before vanishing in a burst of smoke.

The knight stared at the spot where she had been standing before looking to his right, and then his left. A second burst of smoke appeared on the knight's right and Yuffie reappeared, throwing another shuriken at his helm. The spinning projectile bounced off the armor, and the knight turned to look at Yuffie, who gasped and vanished again, reappearing behind him to throw two more shuriken at his back, tearing through his cape but once more bouncing off his armor. Yuffie growled in frustration, but gasped when the knight turned his helm to look over his shoulder at her.

Yuffie vanished again, but the knight turned his gaze forward this time to see Yuffie reappear in front of himself.

Yuffie gasped at the sight of the knight's expressionless helm staring right at her. It wasn't just the fact her weapons were doing absolutely nothing against his armor or even the fact he had a Keyblade…

What was freaking Yuffie out was how quiet this guy was. He hadn't made a single sound.

Narrowing her eyes and gritting her teeth, Yuffie held her hand up, a shuriken held between each finger. "Here you go!" She cried, thrusting her hand out and letting the weapons fly. The three projectiles flew straight and true, colliding with the motionless knight's chest…and bouncing off uselessly with multiple 'tinks', before falling to the ground in a clatter. Yuffie blanched before glancing up at the silent knight.

His helm betrayed nothing, the cracked black visor solemn and expressionless.

"Alright then," Yuffie muttered simply for the sake of breaking the silence, before jumping back and producing another shuriken. Yuffie jumped into the air, her eyes closing as the shuriken in her hand suddenly floated and began to spin around her floating form, the small weapon suddenly quadrupling in size until all four blades were as long as Yuffie's arms. Landing and catching the larger weapon, Yuffie smirked at the expressionless knight, taunting, "You ready?" an charging forward, spinning the massive shuriken before thrusting it out as she reached the knight, crying out, "This one's gonna hurt!" The shuriken flew through the air towards the knight, who remained standing idle, seeming to just watch the attack unfold before it-

And then moving faster than Yuffie's eyes could follow, its left arm shot up and out, catching the larger shuriken by one of its extended blades. The ninja girl's eyes widened in shock, a gasp of, "Oh come on!" slipping past her lips.

The knight seemed to study the larger shuriken for a moment, holding it out in front of his helm.

And then he swiftly brought his armored knee up against the shuriken, shattering the projectile into two worthless pieces. Yuffie watched in open mouthed horror as the first broken half fell, and then the knight dropped the half he had been holding, that piece landing atop the first. Yuffie looked up at the knight's expressionless helm, unable to fight back the rising fear at the sight of that black visor.

And then the horror exploded as the knight began to move towards her at a slow gait.

Yuffie's eyes widened further at the sound of the knight's metal soles scraping the stone ground under him, and she instantly backed up, hands out defensively as she sputtered, "W-wait! Uh, let's talk this out!" She pled.

Silence was her response, the knight moving closer, though his walk speed remained the same.

Acting out of sheer panic, Yuffie vanished in a burst of smoke, reappearing atop a shop's rooftop directly across from the silent knight, her panic relieved slightly at the distance she had put between them. Her mind raced, mostly with curses towards herself for not heeding Cid's advice at seeking out Leon before coming here. She was clearly outmatched here and she hadn't been expecting some psycho in armor with a Keyblade. She couldn't handle this, she had to-

A flicker of movement below drew attention back to the silent knight, and she saw he was finally raising his Keyblade up. She almost laughed. She was several feet away and safe atop this rooftop, what could he do from there-

The knight rose up smoothly and swiftly before lunging forward, the air swirling in his path, long weapon thrust out. Yuffie only had a chance for a single blink when the entire building under her shook with several audible sounds of shattering wood and stone resounded under her before the roof gave. She cried out in shock as she fell before vanishing in a puff of smoke, reappearing only a few feet away from the steps that lead into the back alleys, stumbling to regain to maintain her footing, cold sweat doting her forehead. "No way…" she whispered.

She looked back towards the shops, and her eyes widened at the sight before her. The weapon's shop was smashed to ruins, with several large pieces of wood and stone scattered about in front of it. The ruined building shifted, the collapsed roof moving before being shoved aside, splitting apart under its own weight as the knight casually stepped out of the shop he had destroyed in a single blow.

And still without making a sound, his helm turned slowly to look right at Yuffie.

The ninja girl found herself backing up several steps, her face still locked in a terrified expression. And as soon as she saw him turn the rest of his body in her direction and take a single step towards her, she did the smartest thing a person could do in this kind of situation.

She turned and ran for her life.

* * *

The Sentiment watched the boisterous girl turn and flee down the steps she had reappeared in front of. The child had started this fight and now she refused to see it to the end? The Sentiment tightened its grip on the Ends of the Earth in its hand. She knew of the Keyblade, which was curious, but that was beside the point.

The stench of darkness coupled with the memories it had been forced to relive had already ignited the flames of its rage, but the girl's attack on it had further annoyed it with her useless actions and boasts of bravado. And now she ran?

The Sentiment stood a moment, contemplating, before finally moving away from the building it had destroyed to bring the girl back down to ground level.

Its goal had not changed, the girl was only a distraction.

The Sentiment would not be denied its vengeance, and nothing that stood between it and Xehanort would be left to block its path.

No buildings, no walls…

And not even a cowardly girl who played with toys and called herself a warrior…

The Sentiment calmly and slowly advanced towards the steps before moving down them, one at a time.

Xehanort was somewhere on this world, it knew that.

The Sentiment tightened its grip on its weapon.

And if not this world it would tear apart every world after this one until it found him…

* * *

Cid stepped out of the cottage, closing the door and sighing in relief. "Finally. Now I can go home and go to sleep." No sooner had he uttered those words did fate choose to derail his simple plans.

"CIIIIIIIID!"

Cid groaned, head tipping back, eyes closing in anguish. "It never fails…" He whispered, turning around to see Yuffie barreling towards him. He scowled, opening his mouth in preparation of giving her another of his patented verbal lashings…and then he saw the raw terror in her normally light and crafty eyes, along with how pale she was, short hair drenched in sweat from running as fast as she could.

Cid's gaze softened, annoyance becoming concern as he asked, "Yuffie? What is it, what's wrong?"

Yuffie panted harshly before saying, "Can Claymore target something that isn't a Heartless?"

Cid blinked, confused, then agitated, frowning in annoyance. "What? Yuffie, if this is about the pixies-"

"Cid just listen!" She cried out, interrupting him. Cid's eyes widened. Something was very wrong…

She looked up at him with pleading eyes while going on, "I'm in over my head and I need your help. I need you to have Claymore target this crazy nutjob in a suit of armor who's chasing me!"

Cid blinked again, completely at a loss as to how to respond to that. He managed a clever, "Yuffie what are you talking about-"

And then she interrupted him again. "No time! Just please make it happen!"

Cid wanted to protest but Yuffie suddenly turned and started to race back towards the alleys when she stopped dead in her tracks. Cid was totally flabbergasted by her behavior…and that was saying a lot. He wanted to call to her, try to figure out what was going on…and then he heard it.

The sound of metal scraping stone.

Under that he could just make out Yuffie's terrified whisper of, "Oh no…"

And then around the corner she had just come from emerged a tall figure lad from head to foot in rusty gold and red armor, a cape trailing behind him, his expressionless black visor dead set on Yuffie. Cid's eyes widened as well when he saw what the guy was holding in his right hand.

"What the…"

It was a Keyblade.

Yuffie took a hesitant step back, her gaze locked on the armored figure, who stood his ground, watching Yuffie with all the interest a wolf watches a frightened rabbit. Yuffie suddenly dashed to her left before vanishing in a burst of smoke and leafs. The armored figure stared dead ahead a moment, right at Cid, with the pilot swallowing hard at the sight of that cracked visor just staring at him. Then Yuffie's voice called out, "Hey crazy guy!"

The knight cocked his head up and Cid followed suit, blinking when he saw Yuffie standing by the crane and watertower atop the defense wall that surrounded the city. She was hopping up and down, shouting further, "I'm up here! Come and get me if your slow butt can make it up all those stairs you freak!"

The armored figure lowered his helm and Cid saw the hand that held the long Keyblade tighten its hold…

And then moving so suddenly he was nothing but a red and gold blur, the knight crouched and _jumped_, rising the entire expanse of the defense wall and over it, landing behind a stunned Yuffie.

Cid felt his jaw fall and heard the soft 'tick' of his toothpick hitting the ground. "Holy…" He uttered, before his eyes widened as it suddenly hit him why Yuffie was so panicked. She was fighting that guy and if he could do that…

Cid turned and yanked the door to the cottage open, rushing back inside towards the terminal. He didn't know what that guy was but he had to help Yuffie somehow, and since his old spear was back at his place, this was the next best thing.

Cid furiously typed commands into the terminal, murmuring, "Hang on Yuffie…"

* * *

Yuffie was honestly wondering if this guy could get any scarier.

Silent, more or less invincible in that rusty armor, wields a Keyblade with enough skill to bring a small building down in a single blow, and apparently can jump over two story walls in a single bound.

"Come on Cid…" She whispered, staring at the armored knight who had landed halfway across the pathway that led to the bailey, blocking her only escape route. The ground was cracked where had landed and he was once more resuming his slow steady gait towards the ninja girl. Yuffie had no idea how long Cid needed to get Claymore to start attacking this guy but she had no time to buy for him, she had to focus on staying alive.

Producing three shuriken, she let them fly with a cry of, "Here you go!" Instead of just letting them bounce of his chest like he had been, the knight swung his Keyblade out and deflected all three projectiles easily. Gasping, Yuffie quickly whipped out three more in her other hand and let these fly as well. But the knight merely swung his Keyblade again, the longer and larger weapon once more easily deflecting her smaller ones.

Yuffie stumbled back, but found she had nowhere left to run.

This was it.

"Say something," she gasped.

The knight only continued to advance, his rusted armor clanking softly, the soles of his metal boots scraping the stone ground under him.

"SAY SOMETHING YOU FREAK!" She screamed, her eyes shimmering with barely restrained tears.

Silence, a blank and cracked visor and helm only stared back at her.

Yuffie wanted to run, she wanted to hide, but she knew this nightmare would just keep following her wherever she ran. So instead she crumbled to her knees, staring up at his cracked helm, whispering, "Please…just say something…"

The knight only continued forward, his right arm rising, bringing his Keyblade up with it, poised and ready to swing down with all his monstrous strength-

'Ping'.

An electronic hum echoed, breaking the murderous silence as an orb of light surrounded by data appeared next to the knight. Yuffie's eyes widened while the knight turned his helm downward to better look at the strange object-

'BOOM'!

The orb exploded with such force the knight's steady gait was finally broken as he stumbled back. Yuffie watched blankly as more Claymore orbs appeared, bombarding the knight in multiple explosions that kept knocking him back several steps, with more appearing every second. Yuffie's fear turned to triumph and she grinned fiercely.

"This is great! I owe Cid a huge favor after this…"

She shot back up, confidence restored, three shuriken held in both hands now. She watched the Claymores knock the knight back further, and as soon as she saw small bits of his armor start falling off, she took her chance.

"You know, I was wrong earlier," she said, before suddenly charging forward and jumping into the air, crying out, "_This _one's gonna _really_ hurt!" The six shuriken flew through the air, glowing for a split-second before growing larger, all six aimed right at the reeling knight, ready to help tear that armor apart-

A horrible metallic screeching sound ripped through the air so suddenly Yuffie flinched back in physical pain as the noise assaulted her ears.

The knight's form flashed before erupting with a burst of red that caused all the Claymores bombarding it to explode with such force Yuffie and her shuriken were knocked through the air, screaming in shock and pain as her small body collided with the watertower, and she slumped to the ground with a weak groan.

The knight stood, no longer being assaulted by Claymores, darkened armor smoking and still glowing a faint red, body language screaming fury as he set his visor on the collapsed Yuffie. The metallic screeching noise erupted again, this time from the depths of the knight's throat and the figure rose into the air before lunging towards Yuffie, Keyblade thrust out, air rippling behind it in its wake. Yuffie groaned weakly, rising back up onto her hands and knees, head rising up as she shook it to clear the stars from her eyes-

And then she saw the knight barreling towards her in a charge attack, Keyblade thrust out to pierce through her chest. She had time for a single scream-

Magical energy crackled behind the knight, before a wall of golden power came crashing down atop the knight, sending him crashing into the watertower behind Yuffie. The ninja girl did a double take, in complete disbelief before a deep voice called, "Move Yuffie!"

Yuffie whirled her gaze around and saw a familiar face. A tall figure dressed in black leather pants and white shirt, with a black leather jacket with a furred neck, spiky brown locks and a single scar running across his handsome but much too serious looking face, silver gunblade Revolver held in gloved hands, the blade gleaming and still crackling with magic after his attack that had saved Yuffie's life. The ninja girl smiled and cried, "Squall!"

His response was to reiterate, "Move! Now!"

Yuffie blinked then screeched when she heard metal shift and tear as the knight began to rip himself free from the watertower, sending water splashing everywhere. Yuffie vanished in a puff of smoke, reappearing behind her rescuer, where she knew she would be safe. 'Squall' glanced at Yuffie out of the corner of his ice blue eyes and growled, "And it's 'Leon'." Yuffie nodded quickly, eyes locked on the watertower as the knight tore himself free from the ruined structure, water spilling everywhere. Leon's eyes narrowed when he saw the weapon in the knight's hand.

"A Keyblade?" He asked Yuffie without looking at her, Revolver gunblade held in both hands as he kept his stance steady. Yuffie nodded before replying, "Yeah, and he knows how to use it."

The knight glared ahead at Leon and Yuffie, fingers tightening on the grip of his weapon. Leon next asked Yuffie, "Where'd he come from?" Yuffie shook her head, her relief upon seeing Leon fading the more she stared at the deranged knight. "No idea," she replied. "He just showed up in the market place and started tearing the place apart."

Leon never took his gaze off the knight, his own fingers adjusting their grip on the hilt of his gunblade before he asked Yuffie, "Did he say why?"

Yuffie fervently shook her head. "He hasn't said a single word since he showed up."

Leon smiled at that, just as the knight began to finally walk forward.

"Suits me just fine," Leon concluded, before thrusting his left arm out, palm forward, magic crackling around his fingers that turned frosty before a chunk of ice formed and fired through the air and striking the knight on the shoulder. The knight stumbled slightly, the ice shattering around his shoulder but he didn't stop moving. Leon stood his ground, face blank as fire gathered in his palm and shot towards the knight, striking his chest dead center, but aside from causing the armor to darken and smoke, the knight kept moving forward.

Leon furrowed his brow and the magic crackled harshly between his fingers, before a flurry of mystical blasts of fire and ice erupted from his palm, blasts of flame and chunks of ice colliding with the knight's form, striking his chest, arms and legs in a furious salvo, but aside from making his limbs jerk and twitch, the knight simply continued to move forward, unaffected by the fusillade, save for blackened armor and frosted rust. Yuffie swallowed loudly, looking up at Leon in worry. Leon meanwhile continued to fire bursts of magic but his brow narrowed even further and he bared his teeth in fury as he saw how it wasn't affecting the knight at all.

Moving suddenly, he clenched his fist and swept his arm up and down in a sudden motion. The air above crackled before streams electricity descended from the sky, shooting towards the knight and striking him. This finally caused him to pause, armored form crackling as the magical lightning coursed over his body, the sparks exploding harshly when they touched bits of frost that still lingered on it.

Leon suddenly charged forward, Revolver lowered, the blade dragging across the ground and igniting sparks in its wake and just as he reached the still sparking knight, he brought the blade up and slashed his weapon furiously, striking four times in a row with a resounding clash of metal before suddenly adjusting his stance, holding the Revolver with one hand and striking three times, but pulling the trigger on the gunblade as he did, causing the tip of the blade to ignite with each strike, and force the knight to stumble back as the blasts exploded against him.

Leon jumped back, both hands once more on his gunblade, though a small smirk graced his lips as he watched the knight reel back from his attack. "That your best?" He taunted. The knight staggered forward, helm lowered for a split-second before suddenly charging at Leon, Keyblade pulled back before viciously thrusting out. Leon's eyes widened and his smirk fell as he barely dodged in time, swinging his gunblade out to deflect the strike, but only managed to knock himself a little off balance. The knight swung his Keyblade out in a mighty strike that Leon tried to parry but only managed to block the attack, and even then he was pushed back several feet.

Leon managed to force himself to a halt, grunting, expression shocked as he saw the knight charging towards him in a fast dash. Thrusting his palm out, Leon let loose more blasts of fire and ice, but these floated in the air on their own, surrounding the knight. Leon swept his hand down, bringing another line of lightning with it and as soon as the electricity touched one of the fireballs, the magic would detonate and give him some breathing room-

At least that was the plan before the knight stopped in his tracks suddenly, thrusting his Keyblade high into the air where it flashed and became surrounded by swirling cubes of metallic blue and faded bronze, and where there had been a long blade was now a much longer cable with the Keyblade's fan like tip at the end. Both Leon and Yuffie's eyes were wide with disbelief.

They had _never _seen a Keyblade change into another type of weapon.

The knight jumped into the air and began violently swinging its whip out, the tip flashing multiple times as it connected with the floating spells, dispelling them and even reflecting the lightning back at its source. Leon ducked to the left to dodge the reflected magic but by then the knight's Keyblade had returned to normal in another burst of spinning cubes, and he charged forward in midair, Keyblade thrust out, air splitting in his wake. Yuffie screeched and did a tuck and roll to dodge. Leon scrambled to his feet, watching the knight reverse direction and charge back towards him, sill in midair with his Keyblade forward.

Growling, jaw grinding, Leon gripped his Revovler with both hands and raised it high into the air, the blade beginning to glow and flash blue, with Leon rising with it, and then he charged forward head-on to meet his opponent blade for blade with a furious roar of rage.

Keyblade met gunblade in a furious clash of metal and magic-

And Leon was knocked back, the knight's Keyblade knocking the Revolver straight into the air before colliding into his chest. Leon's cry of pain drowned out the 'crack' of at least two ribs. The leather-clad gunblade slinger was thrown across the pathway, landing in a heap with a soft splash in front of the ruined watertower.

"SQUALL!" Yuffie screamed in horror, eyes wide and filled with fear.

Leon tried to rise back up, but cried out harshly as he felt a horrible grinding in his chest and panted as he tried to catch his breath.

The knight landed on his feet, just before Leon's spinning gunblade landed, blade impaled, next to its master.

The knight lowered its helm to gaze down on the beaten warrior before he began to slowly move towards him, ignoring Yuffie entirely as she threw more useless shuriken and screamed, "Get away from him!" They only tore through his cape and bounced harmlessly off his back.

The knight stood over Leon, gazing with seeming dispassion while the younger man glared up in defiance, a thin lone of blood running down his jaw. The knight cocked his head for a moment as he looked down on Leon, before righting his helm and then raising his Keyblade up and back, the wide tip lined directly with Leon's neck. The scarred man only continued to glare up, ice blue eyes unafraid while Yuffie screamed and charged-

'WHAM!'

A black blur slammed into the gold and red figure of the knight, sending both over the protective wall of the city and plunging hundreds of feet below.

Yuffie came to a grinding halt, blinking several times before inhaling in realization and exclaiming, "That was Tifa!"

Leon groaned, forcing himself up while grinding out, "I noticed…hngh!" Hissing harshly as he felt his broken ribs grinding painfully in his chest, coughing a little blood. Yuffie saw this and quickly ran up to him, crouching while saying, "Hang on, I can heal you! I have a potion-"

"Just hurry up and give it to me," snapped Leon, unaffected by Yuffie's flinch as he went on, "We have to help Tifa. I think I know where they're going to land and she's going to need backup."

Yuffie frowned. "But…but there's no way that guy could survive that fall. Tifa will be a little banged up but he can't-"

"Yuffie," Interrupted Leon breathlessly. "Whatever that armor he's in is made of can let him stand up to my attacks, and maybe anything else we throw at him. You need to give me that potion and we need to move, now."

Yuffie looked worriedly towards the ledge where the knight had fallen over, her mind replaying the scenes of his inhuman leaping, his general invulnerability and then remembered he had a Keyblade…

"Please be okay, Tifa…" She whispered before moving towards Leon.

* * *

As abruptly as the long fall began it came to a sudden end…

Then started again.

The knight collided with the ground below, which shattered under him, the spot was infamous for its weak suspension, and the knight continued to fall into the under gardens, where the water filtration system, long rusted over and in need of dire repair, lay, an observing platform under him as he collided harshly with a loud 'clang' of metal against metal. But no sound from the knight, not even a grunt.

The black blur used the momentum of the fall to bounce off the knight in a graceful backflip, twirling through the air before landing easily.

The blur was revealed to be a pale skinned, dark haired beauty in all black, a leather tank top, a leather skort that was long in the back, two black ribbons on both her legs and black sneakers on her feet. Her long hair went down to her back, her arms were bare save for the black gloves on her clenched fists, along with a single pink ribbon tied around her upper left arm. Her rust colored eyes locked on the crumpled knight, never moving away from him.

She was unsurprised as his arm shot up and pushed against the dented floor he was on, pushing against it to raise himself back up with a stumble, the cracked helm finding her within seconds.

Tifa took a moment to study her adversary.

The Keyblade in his hand meant nothing to her, his armor while rusted, dented, blackened and cracked in certain spots told her he could take a beating, and his stance was trained and ready for the drop of a hat.

A silent soldier…

An enigmatic solider.

Tifa finally decided to break the silence.

"I don't care who you are, or what you want."

The enigmatic soldier only stared back silently.

Tifa tightened her fists, satisfied as she heard the leather of her gloves squelch.

"You hurt my friends, and I'm going to make you pay."

She adjusted her stance, preparing for the battle ahead.

"So let's go."


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Clash!

* * *

"Are you sure you must go to see Master Yen Sid? You've only been back a month, and even then you just had this adventure in the Datascape…" Minnie said to Mickey as they made their way down the long set of spiral stairs from the outer gardens. Only an hour ago he had quickly made preparations to depart his kingdom once again, with Donald, Goofy and Daisy having already gone ahead to the Gummi Ship's hanger as they waited for Chip and Dale to finish prepping the ship.

Mickey paused on the steps and looked back at Minnie, expression determined. "I don't wanna go so soon either Minnie, but if what Donald and Goofy says is true then this fella they ran into with Sora may have been Aqua and Ventus's friend, Terra." Mickey clenched his gloved fists at his sides. Minnie saw this and raised her hand toward her face, concerned.

Mickey went, voice steady but low, "And when they disappeared all those years ago, I felt like I had failed them, Minnie. If this is Terra, and he was their friend, then he may know where they are now, or at the very least, I can help him find them."

Minnie's eyes narrowed gently, understanding filling them.

She had assumed Mickey had been reacting out of panic to some sort of threat that this Keyblade wielder Sora, Donald and Goofy had faced…

But it wasn't panic but guilt.

He still hadn't forgiven himself for not going after Aqua and Ventus after their final encounter in that wasteland so long ago…

Minnie sighed again and spoke up softy, "I'm sorry Mickey."

That had the king blink and turn around to look at his queen in confusion. "What? Whatever for Minnie?"

She smiled sadly before replying, "For being selfish. I shouldn't be worrying so much but I'm scared you may vanish again."

Mickey smiled in understanding, his gloved hands reaching up to intertwine with hers. "Aww, Minnie I don't blame ya for worryin' about that. I don't have the best track records when it comes to comin' home when I say I will."

Just then, a small dot hopped from one of the pockets on Mickey's pants and landed on his head.

"Don't worry your majesty," a gentle, soft and yet refined voice said from atop Mickey's head, the owner being a small cricket dressed sharply in a black blazer over a red vest with a yellow ascot tucked in the high-collared white shirt, tan pants and yellow shoes with black tips, a royal blue top hat with an orange band around the base. The sharp-dressed cricket smiled up at Minnie, a small umbrella held in his right gloved hand as he went on saying, "I'll make sure he stays on track this time! You can count on me!" He proclaimed, taking his hat off and giving Minnie a humble bow.

Giggling, Minnie returned the bow with a curtsy while replying with a smile, "That reassures me very much Jiminy, thank you!"

Chuckling, Mickey's eyes moved upwards, though unable to see Jiminy he said, "Aw, you're makin' me look bad in front of my queen, Jiminy!"

The royal chronicler hopped down onto the tip of Mickey's nose, thus making him more or less level with his king before he said with a hop, "Not my intention at all, your majesty, I assure you!"

Mickey smiled and closed his eyes before replying cheerfully, "Aw, I'm just playin' with ya Jiminy!" With that, he turned and resumed down the stairs, Minnie following him, Jiminy still balanced on his nose as Mickey said, "C'mon! Don't want to keep the others waiting."

Down in the deeper levels of the castle, the large Gummi Hanger was active and bustling with activity. Various gears churned while long mechanical hands moved back and forth throughout the area. Atop in the small control tower of the hanger, Chip and Dale dashed back and forth between various buttons, knobs, keyboards and levers while the red and yellow simplistic looking ship itself hung in the air in the Hanger, suspended atop a rising podium.

Donald, Goofy and Daisy stood on the lower portion of the hanger, chatting amongst themselves. Both Donald and Goofy had switched out of their more formal wear into their traveling clothes. Donald had traded his wide-brimmed wizard's hat for a blue beret with a belt for a brim, the long zipper on it pulled tight. He had also put on a different jacket, this one still high-collared and navy blue but with some sky blue lining and cuffs and a couple of more zippers and pouches along the middle.

He also had on a short, blue cape with yellow lining that he wears draped over his shoulders, kept in place by a silver strap. Daisy told him it made him look for heroic and to complete the ensemble he sported a gold bangle around both wrists.

Goofy had traded his clunky armor for his preferred casual wear, including his favorite orange and blue hat with a small pair of red goggles around the bottom. Goofy had on a green turtleneck sweater with sleeves that had the blue arrow-shaped strap on each cuff and over the sweater; he had on a sleeveless, black combat vest with grey lining with several pockets. Goofy's new pants were yellow and secured by a thick, black belt with large pockets and a pouch on each leg, zipped tight. Goofy's very large brown shoes sported steel tips, just so he wouldn't stub his toe he often explained.

Daisy looked at Donald, brow furrowed and beak curved in a frown as she said, "I still don't understand why you have to leave again! You've barely been back a month and now the king is racing off again and dragging you both along with him!"

Donald looked pleadingly at his girlfriend and squawked, "I know Daisy! But the king is worried and we hafta go along with him to see Master Yen Sid! It's not gonna be like our last adventure, I promise we'll be right back!"

Daisy huffed, turning her beak up and crossing her arms before saying, "You better! It's not proper to keep a lady waiting Donald Duck!"

Donald nodded fervently, smiling sweetly while Goofy hummed a "Hmm," and scratched a big gloved finger atop his head, pushing his hat a little out of the way as he did before asking, "Gee, I wonder why King Mickey wants to go see Master Yen Sid."

Donald snapped his gaze up at the taller knight and squawked, "You never pay attention ya big oaf! The Kings need to…uh…needs to…um…" Donald trailed off, curling his hand under his beak and tapping one of his webbed feet as he himself tried to remember what the King had explained to them.

Goofy grinned and said, "A-hyuck! I guess you weren't payin' attention either Donald!"

The mage duck hopped and squawked, "I was too ya big goof!"

A gentle chuckle caught their attention and the three turned to see Mickey and Minnie walking over. Mickey smiled at his friends and asked, "Need a refresher fellas?"

Both Donald and Goofy exchanged sad looks before Donald looked back to his king and said apologetically, "Sorry your majesty."

Mickey waved him off, still smiling as he said, "Ah it's no big deal Donald!"

Moving closer to them, Mickey explained as he walked, "Master Yen Sid and myself were the last to see Aqua and Ventus-well you fellas were there, but you've both got such bad memories I'm not surprised you don't remember."

Goofy chuckled, rapping his knuckles against his head, a hollow 'thunk' echoing. "Too many bumps on my noggin' I guess!"

Mickey chuckled and then went on. "And if this was Terra you two and Sora encountered, since he's not in the Badlands anymore, Master Yen Sid is our best hope in tracking him down."

Mickey glanced at his shoulder before asking, "Did ya get all that Jiminy?"

The sharp-dressed cricket hopped off Mickey's shoulder and landed on the floor, looking up at the much larger king and replying, "Yes indeed your majesty!"

Donald did a double-take while Goofy asked, "Jiminy's comin' with us too?"

The cricket hopped again, landing on Goofy's outstretched hand before he replied, "Of course! Got a new journal ready to chronicle our next adventure!"

Just then chip's high-pitched voice squeaked up from the control tower.

"Gummi ship ready your majesty!"

Dale added in, "Warp Gummi installed and co-ordinates set for Master Yen Sid's Tower!"

Mickey nodded, smile turning into a serious expression as he looked at Donald and Goofy. "Alright fellas, let's go."

Donald and Goofy nodded, turning towards the Gummi Ship as the podium that supported it lowered itself automatically to their level, a section of the ship opening and a small set of steps lowering to let the three in.

Minnie, her face wrought with worry, called after her king, "Oh do be careful and come back soon!"

Mickey looked over his shoulder and gave his queen a genuine smile that eased her worries, allowing her to return the gesture with a smile of her own.

Daisy curved her beak in an angry frown and called after Donald, "If you're gone for another year Donald don't even think about coming back!"

Donald jumped, eyes filled with panic before he whirled around and exclaimed, "I promise Daisy I'll be right back!"

Daisy just huffed but her annoyance melted into a gentle smile before she said, "Be safe, okay?"

Donald bashfully nodded before quickly turning and chasing after Mickey, following him into the Gummi Ship. Goofy paused to turn and give the ladies a farewell wave and one of his happy smiles before following his pals into the ship. The small docking steps pulled back up and the hatch on the ship closed without a sound.

The podium rose back up, aligning with the hanger gates shaped in image of the king's own head. The doors parted open, revealing three rows of runway lights to guide the ship's path. Inside the cockpit, Donald and Goofy situated themselves on the two chairs opposite the command seat Mickey as the king carefully strapped himself in tight.

The engines of the Gummi Ship hummed to life, the ship beginning to shake as it built up power. With a sudden thrust of his arm out, Donald declared, "Blast off!"

And then an arrow pointing down flashed over the open hanger doors before the Gummi Ship plummeted down a shaft that opened under it.

Donald and Goofy's shocked cries echoed loudly from inside the ship as it fell, while king Mickey remained safely strapped to his chair, laughing in delight at the sudden plunge.

Back in the hanger, Minnie held her hand to her face an murmured, "Oh dear…" while Daisy sighed and shrugged in defeat.

* * *

The Gummi Ship plunged further down the dark shaft before suddenly tipping over and righting itself, causing Donald and Goofy to slam back down onto the floor with a groan. Mickey looked out ahead through the cockpit, staring into the varying shades of blue, violet and golden light beyond them.

The Ocean of Stars…

Sidling up to the controls, Mickey wrapped his hands around them, expression determined.

"Alright fellas!" Mickey declared to the reeling Donald and Goofy.

"We're off!"

* * *

The beautiful brawler kept her gaze on the stoic enigmatic knight, the silence heavy between them as they stood on the platform under the outer gardens.

Tifa tightened her fists, satisfied as she heard the leather of her gloves squelch.

"You hurt my friends, and I'm going to make you pay."

She adjusted her stance, preparing for the battle ahead.

"So let's go."

The enigmatic soldier simply stood his ground, but she caught the sight of his own hand tightening its grip on his Keyblade.

That was all the incentive she needed to strike first.

Charging forward, Tifa thrust her right hand out in a fierce punch-

But the soldier's left arm shot up, snatching her arm easily, with Tifa wincing at the tight and uncomfortable grip of his hand on her arm. The soldier's helm peered down on her soundlessly, while Tifa caught her reflection in his helm's reflection. Her expression was a grimace of pain…and anger.

Her left hand suddenly struck up, an open-palmed strike colliding with the expressionless helmet with the sound of metal ringing. The soldier's head snapped back, his grip on her arm coming loose, allowing Tifa to let loose with several more punches and open palm strikes all over the soldier's face and midsection, each blow further punctuated with the sound of flesh striking metal, ending her barrage with a sudden elbow strike to his midsection.

The silent soldier slid back, hunched over, but he rose back up just in time to see Tifa charging over, her right leg kicking up in a sudden roundhouse kick straight upside his helm. The knight fell back, but recovered even more swiftly, thrusting his left arm out in a sudden punch right for Tifa's face. The brawling beauty ducked back, just out of the punch's reach-

But the soldier only opened his hand, releasing a torrent of wind that sent Tifa flying back. Tifa winced, but recovered and flipped over in midair, landing on her feet and skidding back several feet. Tifa scowled, wiping the back of her hand against lip while the enigmatic solider closed his outstretched hand and lowered his arm. Tifa lowered her own arm, assessing the soldier once more.

Whatever that armor was made of was really tough; her knuckles were already starting to sting, and she knew she wasn't inflicting any real damage, or if she was it was simply too minimal for the enigmatic soldier to notice. She was hoping for the later…

Tifa's fingers flexed by her hip, sparks of electric green discharging between them before she clenched them into a tight fist. Charging forward, Tifa leapt then brought herself down, sliding and sweeping her leg to kick the enigmatic soldier off his feet. He saw that coming easily and leapt over her, his helm twisting to keep its expressionless gaze on her as he landed with his back to her.

The soldier began to turn around-

Only for black glass to meet a black leather covered fist as Tifa square hit on his helm, sending him crashing back several feet until he hit one of the high walls of the platform that prevented onlookers from falling over into the watery abyss below. Recovering quickly, the soldier snapped his gaze up when he saw Tifa jump above him, kicking herself off the wall to give herself more momentum, forcing the soldier back.

Her leg shot out, landing a hard kick against his helmet once again, but still he remained silent, pushed back but backflipping and recovering in the same motion. Charging after him, Tifa brought her leg up in a high kick, her shoe connecting with the underside of his helmet, right in the jaw with a loud metallic clang, then brought her leg back down in a sudden vicious drop kick with enough force to make him stumble, hunched over, one of the wings of his helm snapping off.

Far from done, Tifa backflipped, bringing her leg up in a powerful somersault kick with enough force to propel the knight into the air. But once again, he simply used the momentum of her attack to backflip, landing on his feet without a sound, save for the scrape of metal against metal. Frustrated, Tifa charged forward, her elbow lunging out-

But the knight caught her arm with his free hand and easily held in her place. Tifa narrowed her eyes, her expression annoyed as she tried to break free of his cold grasp, but like the metal he donned, it was resilient an unrelenting. The enigmatic soldier suddenly swept his arm out that held her, backhanding Tifa back and releasing his grip, leaving her to stagger back, briefly dazed.

The knight lunged forward, right greave kicking out, striking Tifa square in her chest, sending her reeling back with a cry of pain. The brawler beauty dropped to her knees, but her gaze snapped up in time to see the enigmatic soldier advancing swiftly, left arm drawn back before thrusting out in a sudden punch. Tifa ducked, and the section of the support rail behind her crumpled into ruined metal when the soldier's punch connected.

Seizing her chance, Tifa thrust her arm up to knock his aside, and then tackled into the knight's chest, propelling both of them several feet back. Tifa pressed her feet down on his chest, and pushed hard, sending him into the floor with a loud 'clang' of metal striking metal, but otherwise failed to so much as knock the breath out of him. She used the momentum of her attack to start jumping off of his chest-

But as she was almost clear of the knight, his arm suddenly jerked, his hand snatching her by her ankle in a grip so painful Tifa actually gasped out. A second hideous metallic screech erupted from the enigmatic soldier's helm as he begun to spin around and around, twirling Tifa with little effort before finally releasing her just as suddenly as he had grabbed her, sending the fighter flying over the stairs that had led down to the walkway.

Somehow, Tifa managed to adjust her flying body and when she hit the wall, she managed to position herself with one leg out and the other slightly tucked in. Her whole form shuddered painfully when she struck the wall, but she refused to let the pain show on her face, her expression fierce and determined, rusty eyes locked on her mysterious foe below. From down on the walkway, the enigmatic soldier stared back at her.

Just for a second, so fast and sudden she wasn't even sure she had seen it…

Tifa swore she saw a flash of amber through one of the cracks on the visor of his helm.

Steeling herself and adjusting her feet against the wall, Tifa pushed against it and shot forward, practically flying through the space between herself and the enigmatic soldier. The knight raised his right hand that held his massive Keyblade, preparing to bring it down on her hard, with probably enough force to cleave her in two-

But just as Tifa reached him and the weapon was almost on her, she thrust her right arm up and out, deflecting the strike and with a fierce cry of rage, her hand smacked into the knight's helm with enough force to knock him flat on his back. Charging forward, Tifa dragged the enigmatic soldier across the walkway, sparks trailing as the metal of his armor grinded against the floor. When she was halfway across the walkway, Tifa slammed his head down with enough force to make his entire body bounce several feet into the air.

Sliding to a stop, Tifa rose up and jumped, reaching over the enigmatic soldier before grabbing him by his head again and throwing him back down onto the walkway below, the impact denting the section he landed on.

Tifa landed across from him, ruby eyes narrowed as she watched him stagger up, his free hand clutching his helm.

It was time to finish this, she though, crossing her arms over her chest, green sparks crackling between her fingers before they erupted into blue flames that spread over her hands, the blue fire licking stray locks of her long dark hair, the heat soothing.

Adjusting her stance and moving suddenly in a blinding burst of speed, Tifa struck the knight with a powerful flame covered fist, seeming to pass through him in a sudden flux of energy before she turned and charged him again, striking him with unrelenting fists infused with all her strength. On the sixth blow, she jumped back, standing a few feet away from the staggering knight, his armor finally dented from her punches, the pitted metal smoking and smoldering from the energy around her fists. Raising her right hand up, Tifa gathered all her strength into her hand as she slowly pulled it back, her lips moving as she fiercely whispered, "Breaking my limits!"

The blue fire around her fist flashed white and as it did, Tifa charged forward, her arm thrusting out in a final, powerful punch that collided with the enigmatic soldier's helm, on the left side of his visor. Crying out, "Final Heaven!" Tifa unleashed all her gathered power in a sudden burst of blue-white energy that consumed the soldier's helm in an explosion of blinding light.

Blinking rapidly, Tifa panted softly as she held her stance, fist still raised towards the knight's helm, though no longer connected to the portion of his visor, as her attack had successfully smashed it to bits, what few shards that survived sprinkling down onto the floor below. Somehow, the knight was still standing, even after her most powerful attack, with smoke wafting around his shattered visor, the remaining portion staring back at her blankly. Tifa had to will herself to suppress her shock at this knight's inhuman durability.

His armor could only take so much damage and he had to have felt the impact of her blows through it. Her Final Heaven should have knocked him out for a day, but he was still standing, and Tifa found herself deeply unnerved by the silence he exuded. He hadn't even cried out when his helm had broken.

The smoke slowly dispersed from around his helm, and Tifa waited for the enigmatic soldier's face to finally be exposed, bloody and bruised as it should be-

Tifa's ruby eyes widened and a soft, frightened gasp slipped past her lips. She drew her fist back and backed up as fast as she could, eyes still wide, lips parted.

Her attack had shattered a good portion of the left side of his helm. A face should have stared at her back, bloody and bruised with shards of his own visor embedded in the flesh.

But no face looked back at her, no eyes bore into her own. Empty darkness looked back at her.

The armor standing in front of her was empty.

_There was no one inside it._

Stepping further back, Tifa whispered to herself, "That's-that's not possible. What are you?" She asked the silent knight-no, creature-standing in front of her.

The enigmatic soldier raised its empty hand towards the shattered portion of its helm, feeling along the edges, small shards of what was left of its visor falling away where its fingers touched. The living armor lowered its hand back to its side, fingers shaking with restrained fury as they clenched into a tight fist. Tifa adjusted her stance, pushing her shock deep down and readying herself, ignoring the pain she felt flash through her hands, particularly her knuckles...

The living armor just gazed back sightlessly at her, as still as a statue.

And then faster than her eyes could follow, the enigmatic solider jumped into the air and dashed forward, Keyblade thrust out. Tifa swept her arm out at the last second, just before the armor's weapon could pierce through her, a loud crash reverberating through the open area, Tifa maintaining her stoic expression despite the immense pain that travelled down her arm.

The enigmatic solider careened back-

And then adjusted itself in the air, seeming to float as light flashed over its long weapon, dozens of glowing blue and bronze cubes suddenly appearing and spinning around it before the Keyblade lengthened out considerably, thinning out as it did, turning from a long and wide blade into a thinner but even longer metallic whip. Moving its arm in a sudden flurry of motion, the armor began to crack its whip about in several directions, the tip flashing several times as the whip struck out and around the living armor as it twisted and moved along with the movements of its new weapon.

Tifa instantly threw her arms up and crossed them over her face, knowing she wouldn't be able to dodge in time. She cringed and grit her jaw down hard with each strike the whip connected over her arms, stomach and legs, nearly falling over as the barrage went on and on…

Mercifully, it ended almost as soon as it begun, and Tifa lowered her badly bruised arms, panting, wincing as she struggled to adjust her stance-

But even if she had the strength to keep moving, she still wouldn't have blocked it in time.

The living armor's whip became a Keyblade once more, and the creature charged forward in a sudden flying lunge, its massive weapon striking Tifa square in the stomach. Her mouth opened, eyes wide as her scream of agony died in her throat and she was sent flying back. Her flying body came to a sudden and equally painful halt against the stairs ascending from the platform, a pained gasp echoing. Her limp body tumbled down the steps before, finally, she came to a halt at the bottom in a bloody and bruised heap.

Whimpering pitifully, and despising the sound as it slipped out of her, Tifa futilely attempted to push her brutalized body up onto her hands and feet. A short, but sharp cry of pain was all she could manage before going still, ruby eyes bleary and half-lidded, soft pants for breath slipping from her lips.

A loud clanging sound of metal on metal drew her blurry gaze forward as she watched the living red and gold armor fall to the floor, its shattered helm locked on her. Its fingers flexed over the hilt of its Keyblade before tightening as it began to move towards in a steady, long gait, metallic greaves scraping along the floor. Tifa struggled to even clench her fists, her pained expression now mixed with sheer determination.

But while the spirit was filling, her flesh was too badly beaten to keep going, and now she fought to remain conscious.

The living armor simply walked the distance between itself and her prone form, shattered and empty helm peering down on her from its greater height, emptiness meeting her ruby glare. Tifa weakly clenched her fists, trying to find some reserve of strength…

But as the armor began to raise its right arm up and back, its mighty Keyblade lined directly with her neck, darkness fell over her eyes and knew no more.

* * *

The woman's eyes rolled into the back of her head before they closed entirely and she went limp where she lay, the slight rise of her chest revealing she had only slipped into unconsciousness.

The Lingering Sentiment's fury coursed through its frame, the rage growing hotter by the second.

She had attacked it.

She had _hurt _it.

She would pay.

Everyone on this world that reeked of darkness and dead flowers…

The Sentiment tightened its grip on its Keyblade, the weapon shaking.

They would all pay!

A metallic screech tore through its throat, louder than normal thanks to the hole in its helm, and the long blade finally lunged forward-

The woman's body shifted, and the Sentiment paused for a brief second, a strange vertigo suddenly flowing through it, but the confusion was brief and the rage was greater, the living armor tensing itself to finish her off-

The creature froze.

The woman…

Her hair had been black moments ago…

But…

The Sentiment stumbled back, free hand reaching up to clutch what remained of its visor before lowering its hand again, looking at her again.

_No_, it thought.

Black was now blue…

Familiar light blue hair, like water shining in the sun…

The woman's earlier visage was gone, but the prone, bruised and beaten body that lay before the Lingering Sentiment was an all too familiar sight.

Familiar white bell sleeves adorned her prone arms, her long skirts ripped, the flesh of her back bruised…

The Sentiment staggered forward, falling to its knees before her, free hand shaking as it reached out towards her.

Soft metallic sounds emerged from inside it.

"_A….q…ua…_"

Its rusted fingers reached for her pale cheek, memories rising unbidden within it, memories of that last night under the stars, watching her and their young friend from afar, smiling as she pointed the stars falling in the night sky above. Its fingers were just about to brush the soft skin of her face-

When there was a rush of air, followed by the crackle of power and burst of energy as something large and sharp struck the prone Sentiment in a descending slash, burning golden energy flashing through the air, knocking it back several feet with the first strike, then followed up with a slice to its midsection, more burning gold energy flashing over the first burst before a final blow sent the creature flying back, its greaves leaving sparks as the armor fought to slow itself.

Metal screeched painfully as the Lingering Sentiment finally forced itself to a stop, Keyblade digging into the walkway under it along with its greaves. The armor turned its helm forward when it heard steps echoing off the metal floor as someone stepped forward. The vertigo overcame the creature again, and when it finally saw the one across from itself who had attacked him, the creature froze.

Long, spiky black hair, blue armor, a long double-edged sword-

But then the image wavered, as a smoky aura of darkness seemed to rise off of the familiar form…

The Sentiment shook its head, fighting back the confusion with its never-ending rage, and when it looked again, the familiar black hair and blue armor were gone, replaced by blonde spiked locks and black leather garb…

Like the woman who lay unconscious behind the newcomer, the blue hair returning to its darker colors and longer length.

The rage turned to endless hate, the hate inward as the Sentiment raged over allowing its memories to overtake the cruelty of reality, giving it a brief, but pained bliss. But the hate turned outward as it raised its shattered helm to gaze on its new enemy.

He had come to protect the woman, and he reeked off the darkness that tainted this place.

The Sentiment rose up, fingers flexing over its Keyblade.

For a brief moment, the familiar black hair and blue armor overlapped over the darkly clothed blonde warrior, though the weapon he held in his hands was much larger than the thinner double-edged blade, though strangely, the blade was covered in bandages…

But the image faded, just as the vision of its long lost friend had faded from the woman.

They were both gone, forever lost to the darkness that had taken everything from the Sentiment.

The living armor raised its weapon to its side, its still form and confidant body language betraying the endless rage contained inside itself.

* * *

He had felt her close by.

Her light had always been painful to be near.

But something was wrong.

She was struggling, her light flaring with each attack she launched…

At first he feared she had found _him…_ but whoever, or whatever, she was fighting, didn't feel the same…

But he didn't care what she was fighting once he felt her light be repulsed and grow dim.

All that mattered after that was getting to her as fast as he could.

When he saw the stranger in the armor, he didn't care about its rusted and dented appearance, or even the fact he held another of those Keyblades in his right hand.

All he saw was the figure hunched over Tifa, and she wasn't moving.

And Cloud had rushed forward, his bandaged blade glowing with power as he unleashed three mighty swings on this armored adversary, the power emitting from his sword leaving three burning gold sigils in their wake before he successfully launched his new enemy away from Tifa, almost all the way to the end of the walkway. The armored Keyblade wielder managed to stop himself by digging his greaves into the metal floor, though he needed his Keyblade's help as well, sparks flying and an annoying screech reverberating through the empty air around them.

Cloud held his ground as the Keyblade wielder stumbled forward, hunched over, before beginning to stagger up.

Cloud adjusted himself, adopting his preferred battle stance, both hands on his bandaged blade, feet squared evenly, but while his expression remained stoic and unreadable as it almost always did…

His deep blue eyes betrayed his mask of indifference, revealing the anger he felt towards this stranger who had dared to attack someone so important to him.

"I don't care who you are," He stated, voice soft but carrying through the room as he watched the armored figure straighten himself up…

Revealing the shattered helm and the disturbing lack of eyes behind it.

Cloud didn't even blink.

"But you…will…_never_…touch her again."

With that, the darkly clad warrior charged, massive blade hanging low by side while the living armor adjusted itself, Keyblade starting to rise. Cloud refused to let it have a chance to prepare an attack, and he swung his bandaged sword up, striking the armor's Keyblade with a resounding clash of metals, the attack catching the armor slightly off guard as it found its Keyblade knocked back slightly. Not letting up, Cloud swung his blade out, aiming to cut the armor in half from where it was connected to its torso and waist, but the creature dashed back a step and jumped back when Cloud followed up with a second slash.

Releasing a loud battle cry, Cloud leapt into the air, both hands wrapped around the hilt of his sword, before coming down hard with a powerful descending slash, sparks igniting when his blade collided with the armor's Keyblade as the living suit raised its weapon with one hand and blocked Cloud's strike. The blonde glared into the broken visor of the armor's helm, struggling to shove the Keyblade down with his larger blade but frustrated to discover the creature's strength rivaled his own.

Cloud's fury iced over into surprise as the armor suddenly swept its Keyblade out, successfully knocking him back several feet. Cloud slid to a stop, his blade hanging low before he forced himself to a stop and re-adopted his battle stance, the surprise in his electric blue eyes fading, his calm exterior returning. The armor lowered its Keyblade to its side, shattered visor studying Cloud for a beat-

And then a groaning, metallic screech ripped from its throat as it suddenly stumbled forward, free hand clutching its ruined helm.

Never one to question an opening, Cloud raised his massive sword with one hand, the blade and bandages igniting with blue energy that crackled and sparked dangerously. With a fierce cry of, "You're gone!" Cloud swept the blade down, releasing the gathered power from his sword into a single beam. The blue beam of energy quickly cleared the distance from Cloud's blade to its target, colliding and exploding when it struck the staggering armor, pushing it back a step and obscuring its form with smoke.

Angling his blade forward, Cloud charged in a sudden slide at super-sonic speed, the tip of his blade colliding with the living armor with a thunderous crash of colliding metals. Cloud dashed past the armor before turning and charging it again, this time catching its side and making it stumble again. As Cloud passed by the armor again, he turned and leapt into the air, his blade igniting with blue flames and green crackling energy.

Cloud angled his blade down and let it guide him down, the massive weapon colliding with the staggering armor in a thunderous explosion of steels and released power. The armor was knocked into the air, and Cloud drew his blade back, ready to cleave the creature's head off with a second blow-

The armor became alive in a sudden flurry of motion, its long Keyblade flashing and turning into multiple lite blue and metallic gold cubes, the blade became a long whip with a fan shaped tip at the end. The armor suddenly whipped its arm out, the long cable snapping out, sections flashing out as it struck Cloud multiple times, causing the dark warrior to grunt in pain with each strike that connected before a sudden flurry sent him flying back into the air with a cry of pain. The armor's whip flashed, dozens of cubes spinning over its weapon as it shrank down and returned to its Keyblade form before the creature thrust its blade out and dashed through the air, leaving a rippling trail in its wake before its weapon struck Cloud hard in midair, the armor passing by him much like Cloud had done earlier, before turning in midair and charging back, landing a second hit that sent Cloud back down onto the floor below with a harsh sound of metal against flesh and pained grunt slipping past his lips.

The living suit of metal shot down, both of its hands on the hilt of its Keyblade, the weapon drawn back for a powerful overhead slash. Cloud rose up just as the armor reached him, sweeping his bandaged sword out, the two weapons colliding in a shower of sparks. The armor was knocked out of the air, flipping back and landing on its greaves, shattered visor meeting Cloud's cold glare as the dark warrior adjusted his stance.

Seeing the armor tighten its grip on its Keyblade, Cloud dashed forward, blade out but low, as if to impale the armor through its chest, but the armor easily saw this coming and swung its Keyblade out, deflecting Cloud's strike and veering his blade off-course-

Only for the darkly clad warrior to follow the momentum of the deflection to spin around, bringing his blade back up and down in a powerful slash that struck the armor from its shoulder to its torso, staggering it. Bringing his blade back, the long weapon glowed a bright green, crackling with energy as Cloud declared, "This-"

And then unleashed a rising series of spinning slashes that propelled himself and his enemy into the air in an ascending arc of clashing metals and crackling power while Cloud cried out, "Is it!" the final spinning slash sent the living armor crashing back down on the platform, smoke rising off the fresh cuts and dents that littered its arms and torso. The creature bounced across the floor, sliding to a stop in a heap of smoking metallic limbs at the end of the platform.

Cloud dropped back to the ground with a soft 'thump' of leather meeting the metal floor, his blade moving to once more be held in both his hands, leveled out and ready as he watched the still form of the armor. The creature lay motionless. Limbs sprawled out, though its hand still gripped its Keyblade tightly. Not fooled for an instant, Cloud brought his blade up and back down, the bandages igniting in blue flames that were released into another beam of power that shot towards the still armor.

The blade beam struck the armor, exploding on contact and obscuring its form in smoke. Cloud waited, massive sword still raised. Suddenly, the smoke dispersed as an updraft of air burst from the top, following a figure of red and gold. Before Cloud could react, only managing a single gasp as the living armor landed right in front of him, the creature drew its arm back, its Keyblade held firmly in hand flashing, becoming a series of golden and metallic blue cubes before wrapping around its entire arm, adding a second layer of metal over it.

The creature struck out, punching Cloud's bandaged blade aside before striking again, landing a punch square across Cloud's face, staggering him. The dark warrior had a half-second to react as the armor drew its arm back entirely, the changed Keyblade covering its arm flashing-

Before it lunged out in a sudden straight punch, connecting dead-center with Cloud's chest and releasing a massive burst of energy in a single sudden explosion.

Crying out, Cloud was sent flying back, flipping over in the air before landing on the floor and continuing to slide back, dust trailing him in his wake, massive blade clattering next to him after he came to a stop, close to the end of the platform where the stairs to the ground above waited.

Cloud groaned lowly, wincing as he forced himself back onto his feet before his shaking legs suddenly gave out under him, forcing him onto his knees. He coughed suddenly, hacking fiercely, the sound wet with mixed blood as it was spit from his mouth, drops splattering the floor under him. His blue eyes widened at the sight of his own blood and the utter agony gripping his ribs. When he tried to move again he felt a sharp stabbing pain in his chest and the agonizing as it was disturbing feeling of broken bones grinding against each other.

No one…nothing had ever harmed him this badly before and with only so many blows…

Cloud grit his jaw down in a grimace as he forced himself to look up towards his armored adversary. The living suit was standing its ground, its arm flashing as dozens of cubs circled rapidly over it before reforming into its long Keyblade, the massive weapon's fan shaped edge gleaming in what little light that poured from the broken roof above. The light cast eerie shadows within the exposed empty helm of the moving armor, and for just a brief second, Cloud swore he saw a flash of amber where the eye of the occupant of the suit should have been.

But then the armor stepped out of the light, towards the shadows, and the strange image was gone, leaving the suit for what it was: empty.

Cloud once more attempted to force himself back onto his feet, but the sharp agony in his ribs almost instantly forced him back down with a pained gasp. He coughed harshly, a wet sound mixing with the hacking, blood spilling on the floor under him, more dribbling down his lips. The dark warrior looked back up, watching the approaching armor.

The creature's gait was slow and methodical, its grip on its Keyblade held tight…

And a blazing red aura began to rise off of its form, the armor's rage manifesting like the hottest flames…

Cloud, still panting, forced himself onto unsteady feet, his massive blade shaking in his hands. He glanced back over his shoulder, looking at Tifa's prone body. He could still see the grimace of pain trapped on her unconscious face…

Simply seeing that was enough to fill Cloud with his own rage.

Gazing back on the advancing armor, Cloud forced his aching arms to raise his bandaged sword high over his head with a deep groan-

And brought it back down in a sudden swing, his entire body igniting in an burst of blue flames, the aura traveling through his hands into his blade, the sheer pressure of his own power releasing a shockwave around him, pushing back dust and small traces of debris.

The sudden display even caught the armor off guard, and pushed it back a step. The creature raised its helm in curiosity as it watched Cloud, its own flaming red aura still rising off its helm and gauntlets, the conflicting waves of power clashing when the met, sparks discharging when they touched. The dark warrior and living armor glared at each other, glowing blue eyes meeting the burning red helm.

Then with a fierce cry, Cloud charged forward, dragging his blade behind him. The enigmatic soldier suddenly raised its Keyblade, the weapon flashing before separating in a brilliant flash, the bronze blade thinning it out with a long fan shaped end while the metallic blue hilt become a double-sided weapon the likes Cloud had never seen before. As Cloud reached the armor, he swung his blade out, aiming for the creature's midsection but it deflected his swing with the bronze weapon, and when Cloud swung again, it deflected him with the metallic blue. Uncaring and unrelenting, Cloud brought his sword up and back down in a heavy swing, his strike meeting the armor's sudden attack as it swung its weapons out, with a spinning glowing series of bronze cubes flashing over its body vertically while a second series of metallic blue exploded horizontally, the spinning magic clashing with his sword before exploding as violently as it had begun to signal its end, the sudden burst throwing Cloud back.

Backflipping and landing on his feet, Cloud charged forward again, the blue flames around his body burning brightly while the Sentiment combined its two weapons back into a single blade, though it was no longer a Keyblade but a much longer sword. The armor charged forward, its blade meeting Cloud's burning sword, and both opponents began releasing slash after slash, furious clangs of metal reverberating, sparks flying and their blazing auras crackling with each blow. Cloud jumped back and into the air, bringing his blade up high over his head, the single-edged tip glowing as he gathered all of his power at that one point before coming down with a harsh cry-

His empowered blade met the Sentiment's at the creature slammed its own blade down to meet his, releasing a burst of glowing bronze and blue cubes in a violent explosion of clashing powers, the air pushed back, the entire underground area shaking so badly what little remained of the above ground cover gave way and began collapsing around the combatants.

A sudden clash of metal rang out followed by a pained exclamation as Cloud was thrown back, landing on his back and sliding back in a kick-up of dust as he was pushed back across the platform, stopping just next to Tifa's prone form.

The smoke fell away as the Sentiment stepped forward, its long blade flashing before being covered in a series of spinning cubes and suddenly reverting to is original Keyblade form. The red aura around its gauntlets and helm faded away, but this revealed no damage whatsoever from the exchange of attacks with Cloud. The blonde fighter struggled to push himself back up but his entire body refused, his nerves alight with fresh pain atop the previous. Cloud's vision was blurry, more blood running down his jaw and pounding in his ears…

But he could still hear the scrape of metals as the living armor moved slowly towards him in a calm and measured gait.

The dark warrior felt no fear towards the approaching creature…

Only the magnitude of his failure in protecting Tifa from it.

With his last ounce of strength, Cloud feebly managed to pull himself into an upright position, massive bandaged blade impaled in the floor before him, his right hand resting on the hilt, his sword and body acting as the last shield between the armor and Tifa.

The Lingering Sentiment continued its steady gait, gloved hand tightening on the hilt of its Keyblade, though its fury had been fed by the dark warrior's futile attempts in fighting against it, a small spark of respect flashed through the rage as it watched the warrior rise one last time to put himself between the living armor and the unconscious woman in black it had defeated earlier. The warrior would die on his feet and go out with honor in his last moments.

Cloud panted softly, watching the living armor continue its slow approach, noticing its hand that held its Keyblade tighten its grip. Cloud drew in a deep breath and tensed, standing his ground as he waited for the inevitable…

Suddenly, a fierce snarl rang through the air, followed by several hums of energy as burning green blobs of plasma rained down on the living suit of armor, striking its torso, shoulders and even managing to strike the damaged portion of its helm. The creature staggered back, more surprised than pained, empty hand brushing at the lingering emerald blobs of plasma still clinging to its metallic body. Cloud blinked, a soft gasp of shock slipping from his bloody lips, and then a blue blur rolled in the air in front of him before landing on the ground with a thud, the blur standing…

And revealing one angry looking blue-furred creature, its big black eyes narrowed, long ears tapered back along with its lips to reveal rows of sharp fangs, clawed hands clutching two small green blasters with smoking barrels. The little blue furball barked in a strange tongue, "Goocha! Aggaga!"

Cloud blinked, staring at the strange creature, confused not only by its appearance but by the fact it had intervened to save his life.

The Lingering Sentiment also found itself confused by the blue-furred creature's sudden arrival. The living armor's broken helm focused on the little creature, non-existent eyes studying its enraged features. And then suddenly, the creature's form flickered, its blue fur suddenly hidden by a red suit, another set of arms jutting out from under its first, with spines emerging from its back and antennae growing from its head. The Sentiment's helm jerked back in recognition even as the image faded as fast as it had appeared.

But there was no mistake this time. The Sentiment…

Knew this creature.

The little blue furball saw the Sentiment's sudden motions and responded accordingly. Hissing a loud snarl, it leapt at the living armor, landing on its shoulders with a growl. The Sentiment jerked, its left arm rising up to brush the creature away, but it simply jumped onto its gauntlet, spinning around its forearm as the armor attempted to fling it off and then quickly scrambling around its arm down to its waist and then scurrying up its back before jumping off its shoulders with a growling cackle. The small blue creature landed back in front of Cloud, this time on all fours, fur bristling, lips pulled back in a grinning snarl as it watched the armor reel in confusion from its fast movements.

But then the creature blinked and stood up, gasping and patting its fur, gibbering in its language in sudden confusion-

Before its big black eyes widened and looked back up at the reeling armor, which still had its left arm extended…

With a curious five sided charm now held firmly in its fingers. The blue furball's eyes widened further, its ear standing up straight as it gasped in panic. Cloud blinked, confused by the sudden turn of events before glancing up at the living armor's outstretched hand and the item it currently held.

It was a strange looking object, shaped like star with five sides, but seemed to be cobbled together from random parts. Its purpose was lost to Cloud but it clearly meant something to the blue furball that had saved him and Tifa…

And to the living armor.

The Sentiment brought its hand closer to its broken helm, the shattered visor seeming to study the curious charm…

Much like before, the image of the item flickered…

With the broken and cobbled object being replaced by one made of orange glass and silver metal with a gold charm at its center.

The Sentiment's body jerked, a low metallic groan slipping out its throat. The blue creature snarled and roared, "Ikata! Injibay!"

The Sentiment shook its helm, looking down on the creature, which continued to glare up at it, though a flicker of concern and worry flashed in its beady eyes when they glanced at the object it held. The Sentiment looked back at the item, seeing it too looked as it should, no longer resembling a memory best left forgotten. Then it looked back down on the growling blue creature.

Very slowly and deliberately, it held the charm out in full view…

Then just as slowly and carefully, bent down to place the item on the floor with gentleness betraying the rage and strength that it was known for.

Not wasting a second as soon as the item was down, the blue creature dashed forward and snatched it up before scrambling back, claws protectively clutching its charm to its chest. It continued to growl up at the Sentiment as the living armor rose back up, shattered visor never breaking contact with the creature's eyes.

But then…

Soft metallic sounds emerge from its throat…

Forming words.

"_Do…you…understand…what…friend…ship…is now?_"

Cloud found himself baffled, not only by the creature's ability to talk despite its lack of mouth, lips and vocal chords…

But by his strange rescuer's reaction.

The blue creature's ears snapped up, eyes widening as it gasped again. It peered up at the Sentiment with curious eyes…

That suddenly flashed with recognition, its lips curling in an open-toothed grin.

"Chunga! Achi-baba!"

The words meant nothing, but the meaning behind them was as clears as the grin on the blue furball's face. The Sentiment stared down on it, its mind wandering, searching through foggy and painful memories before finally…

"_6…2…6…_" it breathed.

The furball shook its head fiercely at that before barking, "Meega Stitch now!" it declared, still smiling.

Cloud watched on silently, at a total loss but more thankful than ever that his strange rescuer, Stitch as he declared himself, had seemingly and easily diffused the situation, saving not only his life but Tifa's as well. But then…

The blue creature-Stitch-looked up at the Lingering Sentiment with confused eyes, gazing into the shattered portion of its helm, and uttered a single word.

"Ter…ra."

The Sentiment's helm jerked back as if struck. The living armor staggered back, clutching its helm with its empty hand, the hand that held its massive Keyblade shaking…

With unbridled fury.

Metallic groans echoed from within its neck.

"_That…name…don't…say…_"

The Sentiment thrust its arms out, its entire form igniting in a sudden burst of red that exploded off of its body, sending a startled Stitch flying back with a screech and pushed Cloud further back, though the dark warrior managed to steady himself by grabbing his blade, still shielding Tifa from the creature's fury.

The Sentiment screamed a horrible metallic roar, "_THAT NAME!_"

When the explosion died down, the Sentiment's helm and gauntlets once more burned a dark red, its aura flickering like flames of living rage as it groaned deeply, its rage reignited and stronger than ever. The helm focused on Cloud, and the dark warrior forced himself to rise up, grip on the hilt of his blade. But standing was all Cloud could do at this point, and he knew if the creature chose to attack, he was done.

But he would not show fear, and kept his gaze icy as he glared at the Sentiment's burning helm. The enraged armor started to stalk towards Cloud, taking long strides as its grip on its Keyblade tightened-

And then it stopped.

Cloud blinked, but quickly steadied himself, refusing to be caught off guard.

But the Sentiment no longer focused on him.

As it had begun its charge towards Cloud, a whisper reached it.

_Savor that rage…_

The living armor turned its helm to gaze over its shoulder.

There, standing at the edge of the platform…

Was him.

Burning amber eyes filled with mockery met its broken helm.

_Let it empower you!_

The Sentiment turned itself around completely, its Keyblade shaking furiously, forcing itself to grasp the hilt with both hands, bringing the blade up and back in a furious slash as it roared, "_XEHANORT!_"

With hate flowing through its body, the living armor charged towards its nemesis, leaping into the air and coming down hard with its Keyblade-

But then the apparition of its hated foe burst into a miasma of darkness as soon as the Sentiment landed. The living armor found itself once more being pulled into inky darkness against its will. The enigmatic soldier struggled briefly, but went still, allowing the tendrils of living blackness to engulf and pull it into its depths, the armor vanishing in moments.

Cloud rose back up, watching the armor be pulled into the pool of darkness with curious electric blue eyes. The little blue furball suddenly launched itself from behind him, darting towards the sinking armor with a panicked cry of "Terra!" But Stitch reached the armor too late, its helm already being pulled under entirely, the pool of darkness shrinking rapidly, evaporating away into wisps of purple smoke and disappearing completely.

The little blue creature desperately scratched at the floor where the pool of darkness had swallowed the Sentiment, soft whimpers and airy growls slipping past its lips as it scratched at one spot to the next. Cloud stared at the spot as well, his eyes narrowed, at a loss.

"It's…gone." Was all he could say. The armor's actions before vanishing further confounded the darkly clad warrior. Its rage at that name Stitch had uttered…and then suddenly it had turned away, charging at something only it could see.

Even more confusing…

Who had summoned that Corridor of Darkness?

Cloud watched Stitch continue to scramble around the spot the armor had vanished for another moment. Then he reached out, grasping the hilt of his bandaged blade, ripping it free from where he had impaled it. Giving the sword a twirl, he slipped it over his shoulder, where it clung to his back easily. He gave one final over the shoulder glance towards Stitch, the blue creature still desperately searching for the vanished armor.

Then he turned his gaze forward and started ahead, towards the unconscious beauty before him. Crouching down, Cloud easily scooped Tifa into his arms, carrying her bridal style. He took a second to adjust his hold on her, and found himself staring into her face, his eyes narrowing at the sight of bruises marring her pale skin, with traces of blood.

"You're late…"

He flinched when he heard those words slip from her parted lips, barely audible and softer than the wind's breeze. He sighed, his expression breaking from monotone…

To melancholy.

"I know." He replied.

It was all that needed to be said. With that, he started towards the stairs and for the city above.

Stitch sadly looked over the floor where his friend had vanished. He lowered his head, ears downcast, big eyes on the charm held firmly in his hand. He whimpered lowly, clutching the charm close as he whispered, "Terra…"

Cloud carried Tifa further up the stairs, leaving Stitch alone on the platform…

And unknown to any of them…

Further across the platform, on a separate section in perfect view of the battle that had just taken…

Soft clapping could be heard as gloved leather hands connected, an arrogant voice chuckling.

"Alright! Fight fight fight!"

The figure chuckled, lowering his hands, stepping from the shadows, his midnight cloak seeming to take the shadows with him.

"Well I gotta say…"

Long, spiky red locks emerged from the shadows as well, winter green eyes filled with amused mirth.

"That was quite the show," Lea said to himself, grinning.

* * *

The gummi ship sailed through a sea of clouds against a twilit sky…

Its destination was a single isle floating amongst the clouds, where the ship landed on the farthest edge. A door on the side of the hull opened, and a set of descending stairs formed. In a single file, King Mickey, Donald and Goofy stepped out and onto the ground below. Turning his beady eyes up, Mickey gazed ahead…

Rising on the farthest edge of the floating isle was a single rising brown tower that crooked near the top. The tower's blue cone shaped tip was decorated with a large crescent moon and stars.

Mickey and his friends stared at the Mysterious Tower for another moment before heading forward for its doors.

The sorcerer of the stars, Master Yen Sid, waited for them at the top.

* * *

This will probably be the last of the weekly updates.


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